Day 2 Results
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – Six members of the Wisconsin men's swimming team raced to personal-best efforts Thursday, the second day of the Big Ten championships.
Three of those personal-best times were set during a single event: the 500-yard freestyle.
Senior Victor Goicoechea led the Badgers with time of 4 minute, 16.63 seconds to finish in the field with the fourth-fastest swim in Wisconsin history.
He was joined by Michael Milinovich, who had a preliminary round time of 4:19.94 – good for the fifth-fastest time in school history – and went on to finish 11th in the final. Freshman Ido Haber's prelims time of 4:21.45 is the 10th-fastest by a Badger. Haber finished 13th in the final.
"The 500 is kind of our go-to event. Our program is based on mid-distance freestyle and IM—that's how we train," UW head coach Whitney Hite said. "Those guys really stepped up and did a great job for us."
Another personal record was set during the 50 freestyle prelims. Tyler Zelen cracked the 20-second barrier in the 50 free, claiming the second-fastest time in school history with his effort of 19.59, which earned him a spot in the "A" final. He went on to finish eighth.
Griffin Back netted the Badgers another personal-best mark in the 200 individual medley, racing to a time of 1:47.10 and earning the Badgers some points along the way.
The Badgers wrapped up Day 2 of the championships with a sixth-place finish in the 400 medley relay. Matt Novinski, Back, MJ Mao and Ryan Stack combined for a time of 3:10.52, the ninth-fastest in school history.
Novinski's lead split of 47.10 was good for a personal best and now stands as the fifth-fastest 100 backstroke time in school history.
"We are in a dogfight and could really find ourselves anywhere between fourth and seventh place," Hite said. "We're not too far off of fourth place, but the sixth-place team is right there.
"We've got some big swims tomorrow morning. We're looking for big things from the guys who will be racing tomorrow. For diving, things tend to get better the higher we go. We'll have the 3-meter tomorrow, so we're excited about that."
Up Next: The Badgers will be back in the water for Day 3 prelims at 11 a.m. Friday, with the finals to follow at 6:30 p.m.
