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Moses sets pair of world records in breaststroke

Virginia breaststroker Ed Moses shattered a pair of world short course records this weekend at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships, leading the Cavalier men to a 12th-place team finish.

Moses captured the second and third NCAA titles in Virginia men's swimming history, taking the gold in the 100- and 200-meter breaststroke. He established a pair of world-best times, with the official records pending results of the required post-meet drug tests.

Moses also bettered the American record in the 50-meter breast with a split time of 29.96 seconds in the 100 breast.

In Friday morning's 100 breast trials, Moses shaved half a second off the 10-day-old world record. That night, he lowered the time again, winning the NCAA title in 57.66 seconds - almost a full second faster than the mark of 58.51 seconds established by Russia's Roman Sloudnov at the Short Course World Championships March 17.

Moses destroyed the world record in the 200 breast with a time of 2:06.40 Saturday night. Andrei Korneev of Russia set the old mark of 2:07.79 in 1998.

Related Links
  • Virginia swimming and diving
  • Results from NCAA Championships
  • World records (before this weekend)
  • Moses placed second in both breaststroke events at last year's NCAA Championships. Florida State's Brendon Dedekind finished first in the 100 as a senior last year. Auburn's David Denniston beat out Moses for the title in the 200, but this time around, the Cav sophomore relegated Denniston to second place, more than three seconds behind.

    "It hurts to lose," Moses said. "I came into this meet wanting to win. That was definitely my first goal, to win the NCAA Championship. I knew the world record was in store for me if I swam well. The records come with it, but being an NCAA champion was what I really wanted coming in here."

    Moses' performance earned him the Swimmer of the Championship award, but both he and Bernardino insist Moses was far from perfect. They pointed to the 200, in which he expended too much energy in the first 100 meters and could have finished stronger.

    "To be quite frank, I think he has even a better race in him, should he do the 200-meter breaststroke short course again," Bernardino said. "There were plenty of mistakes that can be repaired."

    But putting aside Moses' seemingly endless quest for absolute perfection, this weekend stands as a landmark achievement for a swimmer whose previous success had been somewhat unexpected.

    "There've been doubters out there who wondered how good he was," Bernardino said. "I think he's answered those questions."

    Five other Cavaliers joined Moses on the All-American first team. Junior Jamie Grimes, in what Bernardino termed "the swim of his life," finished sixth in the 1,500 freestyle. Senior Doak Finch placed fourth in the 200 butterfly, less than a second behind Stanford title-winner Adam Messner.

    Sophomore Chris Mousetis and junior Troy Johnson teamed with Moses and Finch to pull in fourth in the 400 medley relay Thursday, the same night senior Austin Ramirez finished eighth in the 400 free. Ramirez earned his school-record All-American award by placing 13th in the 1,500 free to grab an honorable mention nod.

    "While to many people, it may have looked like The Ed Moses Show, it went real deep in terms of the team effort," Bernardino said. "That, to me, is every bit as satisfying" as having Moses set two world records.

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