Comments from Day 1 at Men's NCAA's

All of the posts below originally posted on the CollegeSwimming.com forums.

My immediate reactions to my pathetic predictions, before the medley relay:

200 Free Relay
Prediction:
1 - Auburn
2 - California
3 - Texas

Actual:
1 - California - Did a bit better than I expected
2 - Auburn - Did a bit worse than I expected
3 - Texas

500 Free
Prediction:
1 - Jean Basson, Arizona
2 - Conor Dwyer, Florida
3 - David Mosko, Stanford

Actual:
1 - Conor Dwyer - Stepped it up against a fairly slow field
2 - Jean Basson - Not too shabby after being sick, and from lane 8!
3 - Clement Lefert - Wasn't he on France's medley relay as the butterflyer in Rome?

200 IM
Prediction:
1 - Jack Brown, Arizona
2 - Tyler Clary, Michigan
3 - Shaune Fraser, Florida

Actual:
1 - Austin Surhoff - Freshman wins the title; the next big thing...
2 - Shaune Fraser - Looking scary for the 200 free and 200 fly
3 - Martin Liivamagi - Where did that come from? Call it Cal's out to get the title
5 - Tyler Clary - Pace yourself! Leading until the 150 and a 25.97 final 50...
9 - Jack Brown - Hey, I meant he would win the B-final...

50 Free
Prediction:
1 - Nathan Adrian, California
2 - Jimmy Feigen, Texas
3 - Josh Schneider, Cincinatti

Actual:
1 - Josh Schneider - Believes he can beat Nathan Adrian, beats Nathan Adrian!
2 - Nathan Adrian - Surprised he lost, thought he'd be faster
3 - Adam Brown - Stepped it up when he needed to to get those points for Auburn!
4 - Jimmy Feigen - Went 18.97 in prelims... which would have gotten second. His slowest of four flat-start 50s today

Some things I noted from the medley relay and how they will affect the lead-up to Saturday's races:

Backstroke: Eugene Godsoe will win the 100 back. Could break Lochte's American record of 44.60. Could win the 200 unless Clary gets it together...

Breaststroke: 50.91 from Dugonjic, who is once again the clear favorite for the final. Scott Spann was next best (51.42), setting himself up for some good swims in the 100 and 200 breast.

Butterfly: TOM SHIELDS! 44.54, sealing the deal for Cal. McGill could have his hands full in the 100 fly tomorrow, after only splitting 45.39.

Freestyle: Adrian by far the fastest at 40.89 (not quite as fast as his 40.23 last year but still...). Next was Robert Andrews of Stanford, 41.54, and then Louw and Feigen rounded out the sub-42s.

Cal's six points behind Texas, but that will change tomorrow. They have some big-scoring events tomorrow, with Dugonjic (100 breast), Shields and Adrian (100 fly), and with the way Liivamagi swam tonight, he could put some points on the board in the 400 IM. Texas has the 200 free with Berens and Walters, and Scott Spann in the 100 breast. Auburn needs McGill, Wollach, and Klein to come through big time to be able to challenge