Arizona's Jean Basson shattered the school record in the 500 freestyle and won his first NCAA individual title Thursday night, the first night of the men's NCAA swimming and diving championships in College Station, Texas.
Basson, a native of South Africa, swam a 4:08.92 and broke Chad Carvin's previous UA record of 4:11.59 set in 1995.
Arizona was sixth with 92 points after Thursday's finals. Texas was the leader with 171 points, followed by Auburn (141), Stanford (130), Florida (107) and Cal (103).
"I'm really proud of my race tonight," Basson said in a news release. "I'm proud that I'm able to uphold the legacy of South African swimmers here at U of A."
Basson's time made him the third-fastest individual ever in the 500 free.
Arizona's 200 free relay team of Jordan Smith, Nicolas Nilo, Adam Small and Joel Greenshields placed sixth with a time of 1:16.68. In prelims, that same foursome set a school record of 1:16.22.
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On the leadoff leg, Cal's Nathan Adrian set American and NCAA records with an 18.76 in the 50 free. Auburn's team won with a time of 1:14.08, also an NCAA record.
In the 200 individual medley consolation, Jack Brown finished runner-up with a time of 1:43.67 to add seven points to Arizona's total.
Sophomore Ben Grado scored his first points in an NCAA championship meet, placing seventh in the consolation finals in the 1-meter dive with a 339.55. Grado will compete in the 3-meter dive today.
