MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Brad Prolo broke his own 200 fly school record and delivered BYU’s second Big 12 men’s individual conference title as the league’s 2024 swim and dive championships moved into its fourth day on Friday at The Aquatic Center at Mylan Park.
Prolo pulled away from the pack into the flags and reached the wall at 1:41.15, 0.87 seconds over runner-up Cole Crane of No. 9 Texas. Prior to the arrival of Prolo’s prowess, current BYU assistant coach Hayden Palmer held the program’s 200 fly record after setting it in 2014. Prolo has broken Palmer’s record 11 times over the course of his Cougar career, beginning with an initial record-breaking race of 1:45.55 in 2020’s dual meet versus Cal Poly.
The senior from San Clemente, California has improved upon his own record eight times and first did so this season with a 1:41.80 at the Mizzou Invitational in November 2023. At 1:41.15 on Friday, Prolo jumps from 19th to 10th nationally and overtakes USC’s Krzysztof Chmielewski.
BYU’s 200 fly success wasn’t limited to Prolo. Tony Puertas and Jacob Ballard finished at 10th and 13th, respectively, each with accolades of their own. Puertas clocked 1:46.81 to set a new personal best. Ballard’s 200 fly preliminary time of 1:46.49 was also a personal best and moved him into No. 4 all-time at BYU over Lucas Aquino (2013).
The Cougars finished the day with another big point-getter in the 200 free relay. Jordan Tiffany, Tanner Edwards, Diego Camacho Salgado and Luigi Riva clocked a school-record 1:17.70 to take second over host West Virginia and earn BYU 56 points. The previous record was set in 2022 by Brigham Harrison, Roger Woods, Javier Nicolas Matta and Connor Stirling.
Tiffany put BYU out to a strong start with a personal-best 19.54 50 free in the leadoff. Riva then secured the 56 points with a 19.33 at anchor.
The brothers’ Edwards continued to make a big impact for the Cougars in the day’s individual events.
Emerson Edwards earned his first all-conference finish of the meet with a fifth-place spot in the 100 breast final at 53.88. The elder Edwards reached the championship final with a personal-best 53.48 in the preliminary. Ballard added a second All-Big 12 Second Team finish at eighth in the 100 breast with yet another personal best, this one at 54.24.
Tanner Edwards took all-conference second team with a seventh-place finish in the 100 back at 47.66. The freshman from Columbia, South Carolina jumped to No. 2 all-time at BYU over Jake Taylor (2015) with a personal-best 47.26 in the preliminary. Diego Camacho Salgado followed Edwards in eighth at 48.06 for another All-Big 12 Second Team spot.
With Friday’s flurry of personal-bests and all-conference finishes, BYU moved up to 984 team points. The Cougars will look to close the gap on second-place TCU (1,041) in the final day of competition.
| Big 12 Swim & Dive Championships | Team Scores (March 1) | ||
| Place | Team | Score |
| 1. | No. 9 Texas | 1,538 |
| 2. | TCU | 1,041 |
| 3. | BYU | 984 |
| 4. | Cincinnati | 876.5 |
| 5. | West Virginia | 793.5 |
Events resume on Saturday at 10 a.m. EST with the 200 back preliminary round. Tune-in to the 2024 Big 12 Swim and Dive Championships on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.