McBroom claims 500 freestyle at AT&T Winter National Championships
Nov. 29, 2012
AUSTIN, Texas - Texas senior Michael McBroom kicked in another gear on the final 50 yards to pull away to victory in the 500-yard freestyle and pace the Longhorns on day one of the USA Swimming AT&T Winter National Championships. The 500 freestyle final produced the race of the night, with UT's McBroom, USC's Cristian Quintero and Arizona's Matt Barber out in front of the other five competitors through the bulk of the race. Only two tenths of a second separated the three going into the final 100 yards. McBroom trailed the leader, Arizona's Barber, going into the final 50 yards but out-split Barber by over a second down the stretch to win in 4:16.08, well under the NCAA "B" cut. Quintero took second in 4:16.56, and Barber took third in 4:16.62. UT's Clay Youngquist won the consolation final in 4:17.57, good for a new personal best. "I knew it would be a race all the way to the end," McBroom said. "I wanted to stick with them and see what I had in the last 50 (yards). It all worked out. I wanted to push the last 50 because that's my strength." "To quote my daughter who was in the stands, 'It's amazing to think that a 500 can be so exciting,'" UT head coach Eddie Reese said. "He is a super racer. It doesn't matter who it is or how tired he is. He refuses to lose. If those guys were to stand up and go a 25 freestyle all out, they'd beat him by a body length. But at the end, he is no fun to race." Texas opened the night by taking third in the 200-yard freestyle relay, where Charlie Moore, Madison Wenzler, Kerrington Hill and Dax Hill finished in 1 minute, 19.53 seconds. UT's "B" relay of Ben Anderson, John Murray, Kip Darmody and Tripp Cooper finished just behind UT's "A" relay in third at 1:19.69. UT senior Austin Surhoff, a former NCAA champion in the 200 IM, placed third in Thursday's 200 IM final in 1:44.39. Olympic gold medalist Ryan Lochte took first in 1:40.97. Dax Hill added a fourth-place time of 19.96 in the 50 freestyle consolation final. Texas wrapped up the night by taking fourth in the 400 medley relay, as junior Patrick Murphy, Surhoff, freshman Aaron Gustafson and Youngquist finished in 3:14.26. Day two of the USA Swimming AT&T Winter National Championships begins Friday at 9 a.m. Central.
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