Records fall on first day in pool

Nathan Adrian hadn't forgotten what happened in the 50-yard freestyle at last year's NCAA championships. The defending champion and American record holder was upset in the finals, which made him all the more determined this year.

But that wasn't the primary motivation. Adrian, a senior, was more concerned with getting his California team rolling on the first day of the NCAA men's swimming and diving championships at the University Aquatic Center. He did so in grand style Thursday, setting an American record in reclaiming his 50 free title and boosting the Bears to third place in a very close team race.

Adrian roared through the 50 free in 18.66 seconds, shaving .05 off the American record he set in winning the event at the 2009 NCAA meet. He also led off the 200 free relay in a swift 18.74 as Cal finished second to rival Stanford, and he anchored an overpowering victory for the Bears in the 400 medley relay. Defending champion Texas scored 139 points to top the team standings, followed by Stanford (136) and Cal (134).

Stanford's 200 free relay team set an American record in the preliminaries, then bested it to win the event in 1:15.26. Purdue's David Boudia defended his title in 1-meter diving, and Virginia's Matt McLean (500 free) and Stanford's Austin Staab (200 individual medley) also became champions on the opening night of the three-day meet.

The Gophers did not earn as many points as they hoped, but they got top-10 performances from Michael Richards in the 50 free and from the 200 free relay team to move into 13th place with 37 points. They also placed 15th in the 400 medley relay.

Adrian's victories gave him his fourth individual NCAA title and seventh overall. An Olympic gold medalist in 2008 as part of the U.S. 400 free relay team, he finished second to Cincinnati's Josh Schneider in the 50 free at the 2010 NCAA championships. He was more disappointed that Cal also came up short, as the Bears were runner-up to Texas in the team standings.

California came into this year's meet with the nation's No. 1 ranking, but it hasn't won the team title since 1980 -- a drought Adrian hopes to end this weekend.

"We've focused the entire year on the NCAA championships, and it's starting to show now," he said. "This is a lot bigger than just myself. We're swimming here for our team, and that's something I'm trying to enjoy.

"[Starting well] was crucial. Having a lot of momentum going into [today] will be huge, and hopefully, we can keep it going."

Gophers coach Dennis Dale said he was pleased with his team's performance, even though it didn't score as well as he hoped in its two best events. Richards finished ninth in the 50 free, and the 200 free relay team earned seventh place. The relay team broke the Big Ten record in winning the conference title a month ago, and Richards set a school record as he won the 50 free at the Big Ten meet.

"I'm pretty happy," Dale said. "We missed out on some point-scoring opportunities, but it didn't turn out to be a lot. We were so good at [the Big Ten championships] that I knew it would be hard to duplicate."

McLean defeated defending champion Conor Dwyer of Florida in the 500 free, overtaking Dwyer with a strong finish over the final 200 yards. Boudia, a 2008 Olympian, rebounded after making mistakes on two dives in the preliminaries. He already holds NCAA titles on all three boards, and he is trying to become the first to win all three in the same year.