Schooling out for revenge, Singaporean to face rival Dressel in fiery 100-yard fly showdown
National swimmer Joseph Schooling will be in action in the 100-yard fly final at the NCAAs in Minnesota. TODAY FILE PHOTO
SINGAPORE – Former teammates turned arch rivals Joseph Schooling and Caeleb Dressel are set for a fiery showdown in the men’s 100-yard butterfly final at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Swimming Championships in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Saturday morning (March 24).
Swimming in the slowest heat on Friday night, American sensation Dressel cruised through the preliminaries with the fastest qualifying time of 44.37sec, while Schooling was third quickest with his time of 44.97sec in heat 6. Lanza Vini from Indiana University clocked the second fastest qualifying time of 44.66sec.
Seven-time world champion Dressel will be the man to beat as the 21-year-old has been in red hot form at the NCAAs, claiming two gold medals in the 50-yard freestyle and 200-yard freestyle relay after two days of competition. The University of Florida senior also shattered his own American and NCAA record in the 50-yard freestyle twice in the preliminaries and finals, winning gold in a blistering 17.63sec.
Singapore’s Schooling will be looking to wrest the 100-yard fly title from Dressel after losing out to the American at the NCAAs last year. He will also be keen to erase the hurt from last year’s Budapest world championships, where the Olympic champion was beaten to gold in the 100m fly by his younger rival.
The University of Texas senior is on the hunt for his first individual title at his final NCAA championships after a disappointing swim in the 50-yard freestyle on Friday morning. The 22-year-old failed to make the ‘A’ final after finishing joint-15th in the preliminaries.
Schooling and Dressel will face off again in the 200-yard medley relay final on Saturday morning, after Florida and Texas qualified third and fifth respectively in 1min 23.23sec and 1min 23.28sec.
Singaporean swimmer Quah Zheng Wen was also in action in the pool at the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Centre on Friday night, as the University of California sophomore clocked 45.59sec in the 100-yard fly to finish 14th and qualify for the ‘B’ final.
Watch the NCAAs ‘live’ at https://www.btn2go.com/game/ncaa-championships-at-minnesota
