COLUMBUS, Ohio — There were only two events on the docket but No. 22 Wisconsin still managed to topple three school records Wednesday as the Badgers got off to a fast start on the opening night of the 2017 Big Ten Championships.
A runner-up — and record-setting — finish in the 800-yard freestyle relay capped a strong opening statement from the Badgers, who stand fourth in the team race after Day 1 of the four-day meet at Ohio State's McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion. Indiana, which swept both relay titles Wednesday, sits atop the team rundown with 128 points, with Michigan (110), Ohio State (106), Wisconsin (104) and Minnesota (102) rounding out the top five.
Wisconsin also finished sixth in the 200 medley relay but did so in school-record time, knocking off the longest-standing mark in the Badgers' record book.
"We were really, really good," UW coach Whitney Hite said. "It gives us a lot of confidence. If (UW's third-place finish at) the women's meet didn't give us enough, then certainly tonight did. Everybody's swimming well, spirits are high, so we're in a good spot. We just want to make sure we keep the momentum forward."
With senior freestyle standouts Cannon Clifton, Matt Hutchins and Brett Pinfold leading the way, the Badgers' entry in the 800 free relay laid down a time of 6:13.78. That performance shaved 2 1/2 seconds off the standard set two years ago at the Big Ten meet by a quartet that also featured Clifton, Hutchins and Pinfold.
The mark helped the second-seeded Badgers hold serve and also earned UW an automatic entry to next month's NCAA championships. Indiana claimed the title with a time of 6:11.98, ending Michigan's 16-year reign over the event.
Clifton sprinted his opening leg in 1:33.32, breaking the 200-yard freestyle school record previously held by Pinfold and putting the Badgers in second place at the first exchange. Junior Ryan Stack and Hutchins followed as Michigan surged into second place and dropped UW to third.
Pinfold brought the Badgers back with a fantastic anchor, however, splitting 1:31.81 to push past Michigan's Jack Mangan and score silver for UW.
"There may be one or two people in the nation that are as good as he is, but I don't think there are any better racers in the country than Brett Pinfold," Hite said. "We put him last because we know that that puts him in a position to go race and beat people and, sure enough, he ran down Michigan. Jack Mangan is a very well-coached athlete and a very, very good swimmer and Brett just does whatever it takes.
"You can't really coach that; you don't teach that. He's just a great racer."
Pinfold was on the front end of UW's record-setting effort in the 200 medley relay, splitting 21.49 over the 50-yard backstroke segment. Freshman Griffin Back, senior Harrison Tran and junior Ryan Barsanti helped bring the Wisconsin effort home in 1:26.09.
That swim knocked the longstanding record of 1:26.39 set by Brendan Coyne, Lance Jones, Matt Marshall and Dale Rogers at the 2002 NCAA Championships off the top line of the Badgers' all-time list.
"It went as well as we could expect with two relays, two school records," Hite said. "To be able to get the school record, you can't ask for much more than that."
UP NEXT
Competition begins in earnest Thursday with 10 a.m. preliminary rounds for the 500 freestyle, 200 individual medley and 50 freestyle, as well as the 1-meter diving trials at 1:30 p.m. Finals for those events, as well as the 400 medley relay, begin at 5:30 p.m.
QUOTABLE
Head coach Whitney Hite on Cannon Clifton: "He has just worked as hard and as consistently as anybody in the past four years. He's on another level as far as work ethic and it is just exciting to see. Every fast swim that he has, every accomplishment that he gets, is well deserved. For sure he deserves it all because he did, he has and he will continue to work hard. He's just been really great."
