COLUMBUS, OH. - The Penn State men's swimming team concluded its third day of the Big Ten Championship Thursday evening at McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion in Columbus, Ohio. Michael Daly led the Nittany Lions, becoming a Big Ten Champion in the 400 IM. His final time of 3:41.09 earns him the school record in the event, a time which he set in 2019. Daly is Penn State's first ever Big Ten Champion in the 400 IM.
The Nittany Lions notched five additional top-24 finishes, including one top-eight and two top-16 swims. In addition, they achieved 13 career best times.
Top Swims
Daly finished his day at the top of the podium in the 400 IM, clinching gold with a career best, NCAA B-cut, and school record time of 3:41.09. He previously broke the record in 2019, swimming for 3:42.48. On night one of competition, he also locked in a new Penn State best in the 200 free for his lead-off split in the 800 free relay. His final time of 1:34.39 also broke his own school record which he achieved at last year's Big Tens in the same event.
Competing in the 400 IM A-final alongside Daly, was junior William Lulek, who swam a personal best and NCAA B-cut time of 3:45.71. He took over the No. 2 spot on Penn State's all-time list in the event after previously holding third.
Four Nittany Lions represented the team in the 100 fly finals.
Junior Zac Zwijacz led Penn State in the B-finals, swimming an NCAA B-cut of 47.12 to secure 11th overall. His preliminary race earned him a career best time of 47.02 to become the third-fastest Nittany Lion to ever swim the event.
He was followed closely by freshman Jake Houck who clinched 16th in the B-finals (47.45). He swam for a personal best and NCAA B-cut time of 47.24 in the preliminary heats to tie for fourth on Penn State's all-time list.
Senior Jacob Deckman placed 19th overall, swimming a personal best and NCAA B-cut of 47.35 in the C-finals. His time becomes the fifth-fastest in program history for the event.
Rounding out the C-finals was junior Carlos Vasquez who achieved 21st place overall (47.62). His preliminary NCAA B-cut time of 47.36 is a personal best and earns him the No. 6 spot on the Penn State all-time list.
After Day three of competition, the Nittany Lions hold seventh-place with a score of 360.5. All the point totals include results from the Big Ten Diving Championship.
Next Up
Penn State will begin their fourth day of Big Tens beginning tomorrow at 11 a.m. with prelims in the 100 back, 100 breast, and 200 fly. They'll pick back up at 6:30 p.m. with finals in all three events, including the 200 free relay . All sessions will be streamed live via BTN Plus with live stats available on Sidearm and Meet Mobile.
Check GoPSUSports.com for coverage of the Penn State swimming and diving teams during the season. Follow the team on Instagram at @pennstateswimdive, Twitter at @PennStateSWIM and on Facebook at facebook.com/pennstateswimminganddiving.