INDIANAPOLIS — Brett Pinfold's last trip to the NCAA championships resulted in a first for the Wisconsin men's swimming and diving team.
Pinfold raced his way to first-team All-America status in the 200-yard freestyle — the first UW swimmer to make that claim — with his eighth-place finish in the event Friday at IU Natatorium. The senior clocked a time of 1 minute, 33.57 seconds in the championship final just hours after breaking the Badgers' school record with his swim of 1:33.21 in the morning preliminary session.
"He really stepped up in the time that we really needed it," UW head coach Whitney Hite said. "This meet is a beast; it's the fastest meet in the world every year. We had a couple tough breaks yesterday and Brett certainly stepped up as a senior. It's something he's done all year for us. He was super clutch with the school record and, to be an All-American, it's just a great accomplishment."
Pinfold, who entered the championships seeded 21st, is the first UW swimmer to score in the 200 free at the NCAA meet since Eric Godsman took 13th place in 1999.
Also in the 200 free, senior Matt Hutchins clocked in at 1:34.87 to finish 31st overall.
Senior Cannon Clifton also had a strong showing Friday, earning honorable mention All-America accolades with a 16th-place showing in the 100 butterfly in a time of 46.29. Clifton had matched his own school record of 45.81 during the preliminary round.
The Badgers enter the final day of the NCAA championships tied for 19th place in the team standings, Clifton will compete in the 100 free, Pinfold in the 200 back, and Hutchins and Victor Goicoechea in the 1650 free, in addition to UW's entry in the 400 free relay.
"It's going to be a battle. It's really, really tight from 17 all the way down to 25, so every point counts," Hite said. "We're in a really fortunate position in that every swim that we have is going to mean a lot. There's a lot of pressure and that's a lot of fun for this group to understand what it means to compete at the very highest level, and for them to have very, very meaningful swims is really exciting."
