University of Missouri
SEC Men's Swimming Championships
Mizzou Swimming & Diving Nabs Six Top Five Finishes on Day Three of SECs
2/25/2021 9:09:00 PM | Men's Swimming and Diving
COLUMBIA, Mo. - The Mizzou men's swimming team recorded six top five finishes, including runner-up placements from junior Danny Kovac (Fort Collins, Colo.) and the 400 medley relay, during day three action on Thursday at the 2021 Southeastern Conference Men's Swimming Championships at the Mizzou Aquatic Center in Columbia, Mo.
With one day of competition remaining, the Tigers sit fifth as a team with 601 points.
KEY PERFORMANCES
For the second day in a row, Kovac claimed runner-up honors, taking second in the 100 fly on Thursday. The race was tight at the finish, with Georgia's Camden Murphy just out-touching Kovac, 44.81 to 44.84. However, Kovac's time broke the Mizzou school record and was almost half a second faster than his SEC title-winning time from a year ago.
The Tigers had two top five finishers in the 100 breast, as junior Ben Patton (Wichita, Kan.) and freshman Frederik Rindshøj (Soborg, Denmark) took third and fifth, respectively. Patton claimed a podium finish after a finals swim of 51.80, which tied his career-best, and Rindshoej went a personal-best 52.48 to take fifth. Patton did not even swim the 100 breast at SECs a year ago and entered this season with a best time of 55.37 in the event.
In the first event of the night, junior Jack Dubois (Alpharetta, Ga.) touched fifth in the 400 IM in a personal-best time of 3:43.98. The time was a full second and a half faster than his old best and moved him into second all-time at Mizzou in the event. Dubois also improved 12 spots from last year's SEC Championships, when he placed 17th.
Junior Jack Dahlgren (Victoria, Minn.) earned a fifth-place finish of his own, his in the 200 free. Dahlgren, who was 11th in the event a season ago, went 1:34.00 in finals after a prelims swim of 1:33.66.
Mizzou closed the night with another podium finish in the 400 medley relay. The quartet of Dahlgren, Patton, Kovac and Rindshoej clocked an NCAA A cut of 3:04.59 to place second overall.
QUOTABLES
Mizzou head coach Andrew Grevers
"Tonight we came ready to party and have a good time. Lots of smiles, lots of fun, lots of celebrating and cheering, and the result was a ton of fast swims. It was great to see Danny (Kovac) set a new school record in the 100 fly but it was also great to see all those podium finishes. The relay was phenomenal, getting second place at the end. We're certainly building momentum to go into the last day."
UP NEXT
Action at the 2021 SEC Men's Swimming Championships concludes on Friday, Feb. 26 with prelims at 10 a.m. CT and finals at 6 p.m. CT.
DAY THREE RESULTS
400 IM
5. Jack Dubois (3:43.98 finals, 3:45.95 prelims)
21. Dane Florea (3:51.05 finals, 3:51.81 prelims)
23. Carter Grimes (3:52.74 finals, 3:51.23 prelims)
100 Fly
2. Danny Kovac (44.84 finals, 45.16 prelims)
10. Daniel Wilson (47.04 finals, 47.25 prelims)
29. Luke Davis (47.89)
33. Matthew Connealy (48.09)
41. Alex Moore (49.05)
200 Free
5. Jack Dahlgren (1:34.00 finals, 1:33.66 prelims)
25. Grant Reed (1:36.66)
40. Kyle Leach (1:38.92)
42. Kevin Hammer (1:39.50)
100 Breast
3. Ben Patton (51.80 finals, 52.01 prelims)
5. Frederick Rindshoej (52.48 finals, 52.52 prelims)
18. Will Goodwin (53.24 finals, 53.34 prelims)
25. Josh Pales (54.05)
32. Jackson Kent (55.34)
100 Back
19. Matthew Connealy (47.61 finals, 47.99 prelims)
29. Mikolaj Malec (48.55)
400 Medley Relay
2. Jack Dahlgren, Ben Patton, Danny Kovac, Frederik Rindshoej (3:04.59)
Players Mentioned
