University of Missouri
SEC Men's Swimming Championships
Mizzou Finishes Sixth at the SEC Championships
2/26/2021 10:02:00 PM | Men's Swimming and Diving
COLUMBIA, Mo. - Mizzou men's swimming team posted two top three finishes on the final day of action at the 2021 Southeastern Conference Men's Swimming Championships on Friday at the Mizzou Aquatic Center. The Tigers finished sixth overall as a team with 802 points with scores combined from this week's men's swimming competition and last week's SEC Diving Championships.
Over the past two weeks, the Tigers combined to post 12 top three finishes at the women's swimming, men's swimming and diving championships. The 12 podium placements are a program high at the SEC Championships, bettering the old mark of 11 set in 2019. The Tigers also set five school records, including three by junior Danny Kovac (Fort Collins, Colo.).
Florida won the men's team title with 1,401 points, followed by Georgia in second with 1,324.5 points. Tennessee took third with 850.5, Texas A&M was fourth with 843, and Alabama rounded out the top five with 841.5 points.
KEY PERFORMANCES
Kovac concluded his impressive meet with a third-place finish in the 200 fly in a school record time of 1:41.24. The junior, who prior to November had not competed the event since 2018, dropped almost two seconds off his best time entering the Championships. Kovac also claimed second in both the 100 fly and 200 IM earlier in the week.
The Tigers concluded the Championships with a bronze finish in the 400 free relay, as sophomore Ben Patton (Wichita, Kan.), junior Kyle Leach (Colorado Springs, Colo.), senior Grant Reed (Austin, Texas) and Kovac touched third in 2:50.68.
In the first event of the night, junior Jack Dubois (Alpharetta, Ga.) placed seventh in the 1650 free with a season-best time of 15:04.63, his fastest time in the event since the 2019 season. His finish was also an improvement of 13 spots from a year ago, when he took 20th at SECs.
Sophomore Will Goodwin (Centennial, Colo.) added a seventh-place finish as well, going 1:56.35 in 200 breast finals after a personal-best 1:54.57 in prelims.
Junior Jack Dahlgren (Victoria, Minn.) also clocked his second top eight finish of the meet, as he finished eighth in the 200 back with a finals time of 1:44.07. He notched a season-best 1:41.58 during preliminary action.
QUOTABLES
Mizzou head coach Andrew Grevers
"We did a great job this week, I'm really proud of our men. We finished the meet with Danny (Kovac) getting third and the school record in the 200 fly, then getting third in the 400 free relay. I believe that's a total of eight podium finishes on the men's side, two diving and six swimming, which is the highest ever for us.."
UP NEXT
The Mizzou men's and women's swimming teams return to the pool on Sunday, Feb. 28 when the team hosts Missouri State at 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. The meet will be broadcast live on SEC Network +.
DAY FOUR RESULTS
1650 Free
7. Jack Dubois (15:04.63)
25. Dane Florea (15:35.61)
29. Joseph Gutierrez (15:43.71)
200 Back
8. Jack Dahlgren (1:44.07 finals, 1:41.58 prelims)
19. Mikolaj Malec (1:44.76 finals, 1:45.21 prelims)
23. Matthew Connealy (1:46.35 finals, 1:45.36 prelims)
28. Carter Grimes (1:45.91)
100 Free
18. Kyle Leach (43.38 finals, 43.57 prelims)
22. Grant Reed (44.03 finals, 43.76 prelims)
14. Daniel Wilson (44.80 finals, 43.69 prelims)
25. Kevin Hammer (43.85)
48. Alex Moore (45.14)
200 Breast
7. Will Goodwin (1:56.35 finals, 1:54.57 prelims)
15. Frederik Rindshoej (1:58.16 finals, 1:56.59 prelims)
32. Josh Pales (2:03.90)
DQ. Ben Patton
200 Fly
3. Danny Kovac (1:41.24 finals, 1:42.89 prelims)
16. Jack Dahlgren (1:48.21 finals, 1:45.55 prelims)
17. Luke Davis (1:45.64 finals, 1:46.08 prelims)
24. Dane Florea (1:49.68 finals, 1:47.31 prelims)
28. Joseph Gutierrez (1:47.77)
400 Free Relay
3. Ben Patton, Kyle Leach, Grant Reed, Danny Kovac (2:50.68)
MEN'S TEAM TOTALS
1. Florida – 1,401
2. Georgia – 1,324.5
3. Tennessee – 850.5
4. Texas A&M – 843
5. Alabama – 841.5
6. Missouri – 802
7. Kentucky – 759
8. Auburn – 671
9. LSU – 427.5
10. South Carolina - 232
Players Mentioned
