No. 23 Noles Head to NCAA Championships

Notes

Tallahassee, Fla. – The 2022 Men’s NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships will begin on Wednesday night at the McAuley Aquatics Center with a pair of relays.

The 23rd-ranked Seminoles will compete in the 200 medley relay at 6 p.m., followed by the 800 free relay.

“We’re excited for the men’s meet this week,” FSU head coach Neal Studd said. “We have all five relays going with a shot at scoring, so that is a little extra special. It should be a great week for us.”

Prelims will start on Thursday at 10 a.m. with FSU’s three individual qualifiers, Max McCusker, Yordan Yanchev and Mason Herbet competing. The top 16 will advance to finals at 6 p.m. and relays will be included at the end of each finals session.

All sessions will air via ESPN 3 and live timing will be available through meet mobile.

Photo: Mitch White

Max McCusker • Harlow, Essex UK • 50 free

50 free – 19.28, 100 fly – 45.61, 100 free – 42.57

McCusker contributed personal bests at the ACC Championship in all three of his races, finishing 13th in the 50 free (19.48), ninth in the 100 fly (45.61) and 10th in the 100 free (42.57).

He earned his invite by taking the final qualifying spot at No. 31 in the 50 free at 19.28, which he performed in prelims at ACCs.

However, McCusker is also able to swim the 100 free and 100 fly, where he will be seeded 38th and 36th respectively.

A team captain, McCusker is a valuable part of FSU’s relays, helping FSU set the school record in the 200 medley relay en route to capturing bronze at ACCs.

Yordan Yanchev • Sandanski, Bulgaria • 500 free

500 free – 4:14.16, 200 free – 1:36.14

Yanchev will appear at his second NCAAs after he set the FSU record in the 500 free at the ACC Championships at 4:14.16 to finish ninth. He erased Kyle Young’s mark set back in 2009 at 4:14.60.

He will be seeded 25th and can also compete in the 200 free, after posting an NCAA consideration time of 1:36.14 this season.

Mason Herbet • Oviedo, Fla. • 100 back

100 back – 45.85, 200 IM – 1:44.87, 200 back 1:44.27

Herbet swam his fastest 100 back time as the lead-off leg of the 400 medley relay at ACCs at 45.85, after placing seventh in the individual race at 46.42.

He will be seeded 27th and can also compete in the 200 IM and 200 back after posting consideration times this season.

Herbet is also a key relay swimmer, helping the Noles win bronze in the 200 medley relay in FSU record-setting fashion at ACCs. In addition to the medleys, he also contributes on the 200 free and 400 free relays.

Relays

The Seminoles will contest all five relays, earning the No. 11 seed in the 200 medley relay (1:23.15) and 200 free relay (1:16.40).

FSU is just outside the top 16 in the 400 free relay (2:50.15) in 17th and is also expected to be in the 800 free relay and 400 medley relay.

Relay Swimmers

Peter Varjasi • Free • Erlangen, Germany

Varjasi will compete at his second NCAAs. He helped the Noles win bronze and set the school record in the 200 medley relay this season.

Individually, Varjasi scored in all three races at ACCs, placing 13th in the 200 free (1:34.51), 12th in the 100 free (42.75) and 15^th in the 50 free (19.60).

Izaak Bastian • Breast • Nassau, Bahamas

A team captain, Bastian will be a part of the medley relays.

He helped secure bronze at ACCs behind a school record and he was also a part of the 200 medley relay in 2019 that placed seventh at the NCAA Championships.

Bastian placed 10th in the 100 breast (52.38) and was 17th in the 200 breast (1:55.36) at ACCs.

This will be his third NCAAs.

Jakub Ksiazek • Free • Szczecin, Poland

Ksiazek will be included in his third NCAA meet.

At the ACC Championships, Ksiazek placed 17th in the 50 free (19.56) and 19^th in the 100 free (43.35) and was also 24th in the 200 free (1:35.84).

Ksiazek as a part of the 200 free relay that placed fifth.

During his career, Ksiazek has been a part of four All-American performances at NCAAs. He is also a part of all three FSU school record-setting relays.

Jokubas Keblys • Free • Pabevezys, Lithuania

Keblys joined the team in January and contributed to a fifth place finish in the 400 free relay at ACCs.

Individually, he placed 24th in the 100 free at ACCs (43.67) and added a personal best in a swim-off of the 50 free at 19.77.

Schedule of Events

MARCH 23

Finals – 6 p.m.

200 medley relay/800 free relay

Watch 200 MR: https://noles.co/3IAfKD4

Watch 800 FR: https://noles.co/3L5fQUT

MARCH 24

Prelims 10 a.m./ Finals 6 p.m.

500 free, 200 IM, 50 free, 200 free relay (with finals)