Quah Zheng Wen wins first-ever NCAA medal with silver in 200-yard fly

INDIANA - Singapore's Quah Zheng Wen gave himself an NCAA Division 1 Men's Swimming Championships debut to remember when he finished second in the men's 200-yard butterfly final on Saturday night (Sunday morning, March 26, Singapore time).

The 20-year-old, who had just joined the University of California, Berkeley (UCB), in January after reaching two semi-finals at last year's Rio Olympics, took the silver in 1min 38.83sec, behind winner Jack Conger of the University of Texas who won in 1:37.35.

Conger's time also cracked UT teammate Joseph Schooling's NCAA and US Open record of 1:37.97 which he set at last year's Championships.

Defending champion Schooling did not feature in this year's final after he clocked a surprising 1:45.47 in the heats on Saturday morning (Saturday night, Singapore time) to finish 37th overall. 

Quah, on the other hand, went into the final as a medal prospect after winning his heat in 1:40.44, the second fastest time of the preliminary rounds.

But Conger, swimming in his last NCAA championships, was too strong for the field in the 200-yard final.

The 22-year-old, who won a gold in the 4x200m freestyle with the US team at last year's Rio Olympics, led from start to finish to win his first individual title of this year's Championships. 

Quah, and UCB teammate Andrew Seliskar ran second and third behind Conger throughout the race before Quah touched home ahead of his teammate. 

Quah's time is also an NCAA milestone - it is the third fastest time in NCAA history behind Conger and Schooling.

Meanwhile, Schooling made up for the disappointment of not being able to defend his 200-yard butterfly crown by powering UT to victory in the 400-yard freestyle relay final, the last event of the night.

The 21-year-old, who was reportedly sick when he competed in the 200-yard fly heats, combined with Brett Ringgold, Conger, and Townley Hass, to set a new NCAA and US Open record of 2min 45.39sec, breaking the University of Auburn's eight-year mark of 2:46.03.

The University of Florida, led by Caeleb Dressel, who beat Schooling in both the 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard butterfly final on Thursday and Friday, led for the first three legs, before Schooling took to the pool as UT's anchor.

Singapore's 100m butterfly Olympic champion clocked 41.02sec in his leg to finish ahead of Florida's last swimmer Mark Szaranek, to land his fourth relay gold medal at the NCAA Championships.  

The victory also sealed UT's place at the top of the Championships and gave the swimming powerhouse its third straight NCAA title and 11th overall.

Schooling finished his third NCAA campaign with four relay golds, a silver in the 100-yard butterfly, and a bronze in the 50-yard freestyle.