FEDERAL WAY, Wash. — BYU men’s swim and dive tallied three all-conference honors, five program top 10 times and 14 personal best performances in day two at the Big 12 Championships at Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatics Center on Wednesday.
BYU’s best results of the day came in the men’s 3-meter diving competition as two Cougars came away with all-conference honors.
Chase Hindmarsh posted a season-best 319.60 to take seventh in the 3-meter preliminary, an improvement of over 12 points on his entry score. Hindmarsh added 46.55 points in the final to finish fourth with a personal-best 366.15. The senior from Tomball, Texas improved on his previous best of 355.50 set four years ago at Pac-12 Championships during his time at Utah.
“I’m so proud of our men’s team captain, Chase” said BYU head dive coach Tyce Routson. “He got that personal best and put together a competitive list.”
Marti Llop improved his personal-best by over 35 points to take fifth in the 3-meter preliminary at 337.35. Llop then finished the night at 280.60 for Second Team All-Big 12 in eighth.
“I’m proud of Marti for stepping up and making it to finals,” Routson added. “It’s good for him to gain momentum each day against tough Big 12 competitors.”
Tanner Nelson took BYU men’s swimming’s first all-conference finish of the meet with a second team spot at fifth in the 500 free. Nelson recorded season-best times in both 500 free preliminary and final races, ultimately closing on a 4:18.66. The sophomore from South Jordan, Utah now has four collegiate all-conference honors following three in the MPSF as a freshman in 2022.
Darwin Anderson followed Nelson in the 500 free final and came in 18th with a personal-best 4:23.75, good for fifth all-time at BYU.
While Nelson and Anderson saw success in Wednesday’s distance race, Luigi Riva and Nathaniel Eliason did so in the sprints.
Riva and Eliason took 11th and 13th, respectively, in the 50 free preliminary with Eliason’s 19.69 good for No. 7 on the BYU record boards. Riva followed up a season-best 19.65 in the preliminary with a personal-best 19.45 to take ninth in the final. The senior from Milan, Italy now ranks third-fastest in school history. Eliason finished the day 16th at 19.87.
Tyler Edlefsen and Jacob Ballard gave BYU two more finals’ entries on Wednesday, both in the 200 individual medley. Edlefsen and Ballard each set personal bests in the preliminary round before improving on those in the final. Edlefsen finished the day in 11th at 1:45.57, good for No. 6 in program history. Ballard took 13th at 1:46.95.
Through two days at the Big 12 Championships, the BYU men are in fifth with 314 team points. Events resume Thursday at 10 a.m. PST on ESPN+ with the 100 fly preliminary.