March 25, 2017
Auburn's 2017 NCAA Men's Swimming and Diving Championships came to a close on Saturday at the IU Natatorium.
In a meet in which the NCAA Record fell in 11 out 18 swimming events, including five out of six on Saturday night, Auburn leaned on its senior class of Kyle Darmody, Michael Duderstadt and Joe Patching to pull them through as well as a sophomore in Zach Apple.
"Patch, Duder and Darmody are three of the best leaders and men you could ask for," Auburn head coach Brett Hawke said. "It's going to be extremely hard to replace those guys."
Over the course of four days, Auburn knocked off three school records (the 800 freestyle relay, the 400 IM and the 200 free) and came tantalizingly close in a handful more.
"Individually we swam really well," Hawke said. "I was surprised getting some of those school records because our school records are always tough to get."
In all a total of 10 different athletes earned a total of 32 All-America honors, led by Apple's seven and Patching's five. Darmody, Duderstadt and Peter Holoda each finished with four.
"This is the fastest meet I have ever been a part of," Hawke said. "Our guys really stood up to the task. I'm proud of the way they didn't back down and fought the whole weekend."
In his final race for Auburn, Patching took 15th in the 200 back in a time of 1:41.11. With his career now over, Patching owns 15 of the top 25 200 backstroke swims in school history. For his career Patching earned 16 All-America honors.
Duderstadt, a senior also swimming his final race, won the consolation finals of the 200 breast in a personal-best 1:53.13 out of lane eight. That time was the second-fastest in school history and gives him 10 of the top 20 times in program history in the event. It also marked the first All-America honors in the event for the senior as he finished with 15 honors over four years.
Though he didn't earn any individual All-America honors this year, Darmody was a part of four of the team's five All-American relays this year and finished his career with 21 honors total, which is tied with Ryan Wochomurka for fifth-most all-time at Auburn.
Apple's final individual race of the meet produced a 14th-place finish in the 100 free in a time of 42.59. He ended the meet with seven All-America honors, the first Auburn swimmer to do that since Darmody in 2015 and just the 13th overall.
Scott Lazeroff earned a 16th-place finish on the platform to earn All-America honors on the board for the second straight year. The sophomore finished ninth in prelims with a 373.70 and then posted a 301.45 in the consolation finals.
Auburn closed out the meet with an 11th-place finish in the 400 free relay (2:50.14).
As a team, Auburn finished 12th in the overall standings.
ESPNU will air a two-hour broadcast at 4 p.m. CT, Wed., April 5.
Auburn Saturday Finishes & NCAA Champion
1650 Freestyle
1. Clark Smith (TEX) 14:22.41
200 Back
1. Ryan Murphy (CAL) 1:38.22/1:36.75
15. Joe Patching 1:40.43/1:41.11
29. Petter Fredriksson 1:42.57
100 Free
1. Caeleb Dressel (FLA) 41.00/40.00
14. Zach Apple 42.49/42.59
19 Peter Holoda 42.66
200 Breast
1. Will Licon (TEX) 1:49.80/1:47.91
9. Michael Duderstadt 1:54.13/1:53.13
19. Tommy Brewer 1:54.85
200 Fly
1. Jack Conger (TEX) 1:39.88.1:37.35
30. Foster Ballard 1:44.41
34. Santiago Grassi 1:45.03
39. Liam McCloskey 1:46.50
40. Luis Martinez 1:46.53
Platform
1. David Dinsmore (MIA) 443.05/528.20
16. Scott Lazeroff 373.70/301.45
400 Free Relay
1. Texas -- (Ringgold 42.06, Conger 41.30, Haas 41.01, Schooling 41.02) -- 2:45.39
11. Auburn -- (Holoda 42.30, Apple 42.24, Kalontarov 43.48, Darmody 42.12) -- 2:50.14
School Records Set
200 Free -- Zach Apple -- 1:33.36
400 IM -- Joe Patching -- 3:41.19
800 Freestyle Relay -- 6:14.99 (Patching 1:34.06, Darmody 1:34.14, H. Morris 1:34.40, Apple 1:32.39)
All-America Honors (10 athletes, 32 honors)
Zach Apple -- 50 Free, 100 Free HM, 200 Free, 200 FR, 400 FR HM, 800 FR HM, 400 MR HM
Kyle Darmody -- 200 FR, 400 FR HM, 800 FR HM, 200 MR HM
Michael Duderstadt -- 100 Breast, 200 Breast HM, 200 MR, 400 MR HM
Peter Holoda -- 200 FR, 400 FR HM, 200 MR HM, 400 MR HM
Ziv Kalontarov -- 200 FR, 400 FR HM
Scott Lazeroff - Platform
Luis Martinez -- 200 MR HM, 400 MR HM
Liam McCloskey -- 200 MR HM, 400 MR HM
Hugo Morris -- 800 FR HM
Joe Patching - 200 Back HM, 200 IM HM, 400 IM, 800 FR HM, 400 MR HM
Team Scores
1. Texas 543
2. California 349
3. Florida 294.5
4. NC State 272.5
5. Stanford 242
12. Auburn 127.5