The University of Utah men’s swim team headed out west to compete against USC in their last dual meet of the season. The meet took place at the Uytengsu Aquatics Center in Los Angeles. The events that were competed in this past weekend were: 200 medley relay, 100 back, 200 back, 100 breast, 200 breast,  50 free, 100 free, 200 free, 500 free, 1650 free, 100 fly, 200 fly, 200 IM, and 400 free relay. 

On the first day out, Andrew Britton, Andrei Ungur, Ben Watterman, and Santiago Contreras took second in the 200 medley relay event with a time of 1:27.46. In the 1650 free event, Rhys Winter placed second place posing a time of 15:48.84. In the 100 back event, Ungur placed second place and JP Hynes took third.

Lex Hernandez-Nietling took second in the 100 breast event. Waterman took third in the 200 fly event and Contreras took fifth place in the 50 free event. In the 200 free event, Chris Allen placed fifth place being the highest Ute placed in that event. Britton placed fourth in the 100 breast event. 

Noah Carlson set a new personal best on the 200 fly with a time of 1:47.25, that time was enough to earn him fourth place in the event. Sam Lucas also set a new personal best on the event with his time of 1:47.25.

After day one, the Utes trailed 95-36.

On the second day of competition, the Utes started out strong as Contreras took second place in the 100 free event with Noah Carlson and Hynes placing third and fourth place. In the 200 back event, Preston Planells placed in second place with Parker McOmber placing right behind him in third place. Hernandez-Nietling and Britton placed second and third in the 200 breast event.

In the 500 free event, Micah Ginoza placed in second while fellow teammate Ryhs Winter came in third. Waterman and Cole Giandinoto placed second and third place in the 100 fly event. Hernandez-Nietling took second place in the 200 IM event. In the last event of the competition, Waterman, Contreras, Giandinoto, and Marko Kokacic teamed up to take on the 400 free relay by posting a time of 2:58.27 and placing second place. 

Overall, the Utes lost to USC 160- 94. The Utes’ next event will be the Pac-12 Diving Championship in Tucson, Arizona, on Feb.  24-27. The women’s swim team will travel to Houston for the Pac-12 Swimming Championships, also on Feb. 24-27. The men’s championship will take place at the Hillenbrand Aquatic Center while the women’s competition will be at the University of Huston. 

Depending on the outcome of the conference championship in two weeks, some members of both teams could qualify for the NCAA Championships. The men’s championship will be held March 24-27, 2021 at the Greensboro Aquatic Center in Greensboro, NC. The women’s championship will take place on March 17-20, 2021, also at the Greensboro Aquatic Center.

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