UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State freshman Michael Daly broke his own record in the 1650 freestyle Saturday to conclude the final day of the NCAA Men's Swimming & Diving Championships, hosted by The University of Texas at the Lee & Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center.
Led by Hector Garcia Boissier's second-place finish in the 1-meter on day two of the NCAA Championships, the Nittany Lions finished the meet with a score of 27 placing them 29th. This is the highest finish since 2015.
The freshman started off the final day of NCAA Championships by finishing 33rd in the 200 yard back. His time of 1:43.08 broke his career best time and he remains the third fastest 200 back swimmer in Penn State history. Daly concluded his day by swimming the 1650 free in record-breaking fashion, breaking his own school record with a time of 15:02.66, besting his time of 15:03.81 set at the Big Ten Championship. His time was also good for 33rd in the event. On Thursday, he placed 26th in the 400 IM with a time of 3:45.67.
"Daly's performance was a great learning experience for him," Penn State head coach Tim Murphy said. "Ended the season on a really strong note by breaking the mile record."
Sophomore Gabe Castano ended his NCAA Championship debut with a 37th place finish in the 100 free with a time of 43.26. He placed 17th in the 50 free (19.21) on the second day of championship action.
"Gabe swam well, he just needed to get out a little faster," Murphy said. "He really planted the seeds for the future. I'm really glad with the two young guys, now they have the big picture on how tough and brutal this meet is."
Murphy expressed his gratitude for his swimmers and his fellow coaches.
"Hector getting second was phenomenal and really speaks to his dedication and discipline for all four years. We're going to miss him and Jack [Crow]. I also want to express my gratitude to all my assistants, they did a phenomenal job with our teams this year."
Check GoPSUSports.com for coverage of the Penn State swimming and diving teams during the season. Follow the team on Twitter at @PennStateSWIM and on Facebook at facebook.com/pennstateswimminganddiving.
