INDIANAPOLIS — If a defending national champion can be an underdog, that’s who Brendan Burns was.
The Indiana University senior, after a slowish morning swim, drew lane 1 for the final of the 100-yard backstroke Friday night at the NCAA Championships. Two swim clichés – “outside smoke,” and “if you have a lane, you have a chance” – applied to Burns.
After his repeat title, he jumped out of the pool, turned to the Natatorium section where his family and IU fans were seated, shouted and shook his fists. He was one happy Hoosier.
“This year has been rocky, just as a fifth-year,” Burns said. “Personally, me kind of looking at myself in the mirror and realizing that my journey in this sport is probably coming to an end a lot sooner than I want it to. That’s definitely been very humbling and sobering, and a difficult pill to swallow.
“To have moments like this, to have these incredible moments with my team at this meet, it’s just a reminder of why I came back.”
It was a momentous night for the Hoosiers, who solidified their hold on fourth place in team standings and prepped themselves to climb higher.
Arizona State leads with 343 points, followed by California, 286.5, and Florida, 273. Indiana has 247 to 206 for fifth-place North Carolina State.
Burns’ time was 43.86 seconds, edging the 43.89 by N.C. State’s Kacper Stokowski, a 25-year-old Pole. It was the third NCAA title for Burns, following the 200 butterfly in 2022 and 100 backstroke (in 43.61) in 2023.
Burns broke the pool record of 43.99 set in 2017 by Cal’s Ryan Murphy, a four-time Olympic gold medalist.
Texas’ Will Modglin, a three-time state champion in the 100 backstroke at this pool, won the B final in 44.20 -- .08 off best ever by a college freshman. The Zionsville swimmer’s time would have placed fifth in the A final.
Burns was seeded No. 7 after a prelim he called “pretty terrible.” He suggested being in lane 1, apart from other swimmers, allowed him to concentrate on his own race.
“I wasn’t thinking about all the great guys that were in that heat,” he said. “Some of those guys are going to win Olympic medals this summer.”
Elsewhere for the Hoosiers, divers Carson Tyler and Quentin Henninger finished 1-2 on 3-meter springboard, Israeli swimmer Tomer Frankel was second in the 100 butterfly (43.85), and German sprinter Rafael Miroslaw was fifth in the 200 freestyle (1:30.84).
Burns was beaten by Stokowski by nearly a full second on leadoff of the 400 medley relay. Indiana still finished fourth for 30 team points.
“Karma did smack me in the face there,” Burns joked.
No record, but Marchand wins 400 IM
- French superstar Leon Marchand of Arizona State, after his otherworldly record of 4:02.31 in the 500 freestyle Thursday, repeated as winner of the 200 individual medley in a more mortal 3:32.12. He broke the Natatorium record of 3:33.42 set in 2017 by Chase Kalisz, whose time remains an American record. Marchand set the NCAA record of 3:28.82 last year. North Carolina State’s Kyle Ponsler, a sophomore from Fishers, was 10th in 3:39.28 (which would have placed sixth in the A final).
- Marchand propelled Arizona State to an NCAA record of 2:57.32 in the 400 medley relay. He clocked the fastest breaststroke leg ever, 48.73, in the Sun Devils' first-ever relay win at NCAAs.
- Cal’s Liam Bell won the 100 breaststroke in a surprisingly fast 49.53. The time broke the NCAA, meet, American and U.S. Open record of 49.69 set by IU’s Ian Finnerty in 2018 – and yet was intrinsically slower than Marchand’s relay swim. Towson’s Brian Benzing, second in 50.59, had previously announced he would take a fifth year at Indiana in 2025.
- Florida’s Josh Liendo took the 100 butterfly in 43.07 -- No. 2 history behind Caeleb Dressel’s 42.80 from 2018. Liendo, a Canadian, also won Thursday’s 50 freestyle,
- NCAA record in the 200 freestyle was broken for a third time in three nights, returning to Texas junior Luke Hobson. His 1:28.81 swim beat Cal’s Jack Alexy, 1:29.75, and Notre Dame’s Chris Guiliano, 1:30.38. On Wednesday, Hobson set a record of 1:29.13 to lead off the 4x200 free relay, only to have it bettered by Marchand’s 1:28.97 in another heat. Florida’s Jake Mitchell, an Olympian from Carmel, was 13th in the 200 free in 1:31.92 (after a 1:31.55 prelim).
Contact WTHR correspondent David Woods at dwoods1411@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidWoods007.