Klinge Wins 50 Free, Buckeyes Set Three Program Records on Day Two of B1G Championships

Thursday, February 27

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Klinge Wins 50 Free, Buckeyes Set Three Program Records on Day Two of B1G Championships

2/27/2025 9:20:00 PM | General, Men's Swim & Dive

The Buckeyes set three program records on Thursday in Minneapolis

Thursday Results

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The No. 13 Ohio State men's swimming and diving team is in third place (413 points) after day two of the Big Ten Championships on Thursday. The Buckeyes set three program records on day two, with Matt Klinge winning gold in the 50 free and the 200 free relay team winning bronze.

In the A final of the 500 free, Mason Edmund finished sixth with an NCAA B standard time of 4:17.60. Alex Metzler placed second in the B final, touching at 4:15.78, which is an NCAA B cut. Also, in the B final, Jordi Vilchez finished fourth with an NCAA B cut time of 4:16.44 and Sam Campbell finished sixth with an NCAA B cut of 4:17.74. Martin Perecinsky finished fifth in the 500 free C final with an NCAA B standard time of 4:19.82.

Tristan Jankovics placed fifth in the 200 IM, setting a program record with a time of 1:41.09. It is also an NCAA B cut. The previous record of 1:41.36 was set by Andrew Loy in 2019 and Jankovics is now the Buckeyes' record holder in both the 200 IM and the 400 IM (3:38.49). Will Bansberg finished third in the 200 IM C final with an NCAA B cut of 1:45.13.

The 50 free was an exciting race for the Buckeyes, starting in prelims with Klinge (18.84), Daniel Baltes (18.96) and Mario McDonald (18.97) finishing 1-2-3 and all in under 19 seconds. Klinge's time was a school record, breaking the previous record of 18.93 set by Olympian Hunter Armstrong in 2022.

In the 50 free finals, Klinge broke the record a second time, swimming an NCAA B cut of 18.78 to win gold. It is his first career Big Ten title. Baltes finished fourth with an NCAA B standard time of 18.96 and McDonald finished seventh with an NCAA B cut of 19.13. In the B final, Tomas Navikonis placed seventh, swimming an NCAA B standard time of 19.34. Evan Fentress finished third in the C final with an NCAA B cut of 19.55.

In the A final of the 1-meter dive, Clayton Chaplin placed seventh with an NCAA Zones qualifying score of 359.85. Dom Roberto placed sixth in the consolation final with an NCAA Zones qualifying score of 308.00.

The Buckeyes won a bronze medal in the final event of the night, the 200 free relay. The team of Klinge, Baltes, McDonald and Navikonis finished in a program record and automatic NCAA qualifying time of 1:15.19.

The Big Ten Championships continue Friday, Feb. 28-Saturday, March 1. Prelims will begin at 10:00 a.m. CT/11:00 a.m. ET each day, with diving consolation finals beginning at 5:00 p.m. CT/6:00 p.m. ET and swimming finals starting at 5:30 p.m. CT/6:30 p.m. ET each day.

Team Standings