The momentum continued for NC State on Thursday night. A day after two winning relays, the Wolfpack won three of four events and set two league records in the process to grab the lead in the meet standings.
“We know these teams are not going to go away and we know these teams have good days tomorrow,” said NC State coach Braden Holloway. “We just have to keep the pedal to medal and keep the energy going and have a good morning.”
Through eight events, the Wolfpack sits in first with 495 points, followed by Virginia Tech (459) in second, and North Carolina (453) in third. Louisville (327) and Virginia (283) round out the top five.
The 2015 ACC Men’s Swimming & Diving Championship continues on Friday morning at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center. Preliminaries for the 400 individual medley, 100 butterfly, 200 freestyle, 100 breaststroke, and 100 backstroke will get underway at 10 a.m.
Finals for those events, along with the 400 medley relay, will be held Friday evening at 6 p.m.
For updates throughout the meet, make sure to follow @ACCSwimDive and #ACCMSD.
200 FREESTYLE RELAY
The NC State relay team of Simonas Bilis, Ryan Held, Andreas Schiellerup, and David Williams entered into the record books to close out Thursday night’s swimming. The squad finished in 1:15.62, besting their own record that was set at last year’s ACC Championship.
“That was a fun relay,” said NC State coach Braden Holloway. “Those kids take a lot of pride in that relay. We knew those four guys should be pretty quick based on the individual event, so it was all about doing it all together at the same time and that’s what they live for.”
Bilis missed out on the 50 freestyle record earlier on Thursday night. He took advantage of a second opportunity, swimming 18.98 on the leadoff leg to set the record and become the first swimmer to break the 19-second mark in ACC history.
North Carolina (1:17.03) and Louisville (1:17.96) joined NC State on the podium, and all three teams finished with NCAA A cuts.
50 FREESTYLE
With four swimmers in the championship final, the 50 freestyle promised to be profitable for the Wolfpack on Thursday night. The four NC State swimmers finished in the top five and two more placed in the bonus final for a combined total of 126 points for NC State. The event gave the Wolfpack 431 points through six events, jumping Virginia Tech for the meet lead.
NC State junior Simonas Bilis (19.07) just missed out on the ACC record (19.04, Paul Murray, Florida State, 2014). His time on Thursday tied for the second-fastest time in league history with former Wolfpack great Cullen Jones, who held the league mark from 2006 through last year.
“We got going after the first day of relays and the train gained steam,” said Bilis. “That’s how we’re going to keep it up – winning and cheering for each other.”
David Williams (19.12) of NC State and Georgia Tech senior Andrew Kosic (19.23) also earned medals.
NC State’s John Newell’s performance in the bonus final culminated an eventful day for the senior. He finished tied for 24th following the preliminaries this morning, and needed a swim-off to advance to the nightly finals. Once there, he won the bonus final in 19.80 to earn nine points for the Wolfpack.
200 INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY
Virginia Tech’s Brandon Fiala ended the run of Wolpack gold medals, taking the top podium spot in 1:43.97. A sophomore from Centreville, Virginia, Fiala out-touched a tight field to become the first Hokie swimmer to win the ACC 200 Individual Medley title in program history.
“Our squad has always been a snowball effect team,” said Fiala. “We’re going to take this and hopefully it feeds the 50 free and then the relay and continues throughout the meet.”
NC State took the next three spots in the 200 IM, as senior Stephen Coetzer (1:44.04) and sophomore Soeren Dahl (1:44.06) joined Fiala for a tight top three. Junior Christian McCurdy (1:44.75) finished in fourth.
500 FREESTYLE
Anton Ipsen, who entered the nightly finals as the top seed, ran away from the field to claim the gold in the 500 freestyle to start off Thursday’s action. The freshman posted an NCAA A cut time of 4:13.87 to become the first NC State swimmer to win the event since 1985, when Rich Shinnick took the top spot.
After trailing through the first 100 yards, Ipsen took a lead that he wouldn’t relinquish the rest of the way. Louisville sophomore Trevor Carroll finished second in 4:16.03, followed by North Carolina freshman Henry Campbell (4:17.27) in third.
“Being a part of this movement is something special,” said Ipsen, whose gold was the third straight for NC State to start the week. “It’s not about yourself, it’s about the team and I love it.”
MORNING PRELIMS
The second day of the 2015 ACC Men’s Swimming & Diving Championship began Thursday morning with preliminaries in three events: the 500 freestyle, 200 yard individual medley, and the 50 freestyle. NC State swimmers posted the fastest time in each of the three events.
Wolfpack freshman Anton Ipsen (4:15.43) posted the fastest qualifying time in the 500 freestyle, followed by North Carolina freshman Henry Campbell (4:16.77) and Louisville’s Trevor Carroll (4:17.77).
In the 200 individual medley, NC State’s Stephen Coetzer led the way in 1:43.65 while teammate Soeren Dahl grabbed the third spot in 1:441.41. Virginia Tech’s Brandon Fiala will be seeded second after touching in 1:43.73.
The Wolfpack sprinters made noise in the 50 freestyle to close out the Thursday morning swimming. Simonas Bilis (19.13), David Williams (19.18), and Ryan Held (19.27) posted the top three times, while Andreas Schiellerup (19.72) grabbed the eighth spot to give NC State half of the championship final. Bilis, Williams, Held, and Georgia Tech’s Andrew Kosic all posted NCAA A cuts in the event.
Duke
Blue Devil swimmers continued to rewrite the program record book and all-time top-10 performance list Thursday on the second day of the 2015 ACC Men’s Swimming and Diving Championship at Georgia Tech’s Aquatic Center. On the day, the Duke men broke school records in two events and posted eight all-time top-10 marks.
Duke’s young talent was on display early in the day as freshman Matt Johnson advanced to the 500-yard freestyle bonus final in his ACC Championship debut. He broke the program record in the event during preliminaries with a 4:26.32 swim before returning to the water Thursday evening to shave nearly two seconds off of his earlier performance at 4:24.29. Closing the race with impressive speed, Johnson surpassed his own school record and earned an NCAA provisional cut.
Another rookie climbed into the program’s all-time top-10 in the 500 freestyle during the morning session, as Alex Peña recorded a career-best 4:27.16 to rank third in program history.
“The freshmen did a great job, just like they did last night on the relay,” said head coach Dan Colella. “For Alex and Matt to do what they did this morning was terrific, and Matt was able to make it back tonight. I think there were some nerves there this morning, but tonight he swam his race and as a result dropped another two seconds. We’re very proud of that performance, and it really got us started tonight because it just went from there.”
The Blue Devils were well-represented in the 200 IM, with three swimmers making it back for finals. A year after finishing 13th in the conference in the event, sophomore Michael Miller earned a spot in the championship final with a preliminaries time of 1:45.33. That mark broke his own school record, but it would not stand for long as the Houston, Texas native went even faster Thursday evening at 1:45.26 to place eighth overall.
Fellow sophomore Bradley Cline also improved upon his 200 IM showing at last year’s ACC meet, moving up to 11th in the conference with a 1:46.64 finals swim. Classmate Peter Kropp competed in the bonus final, jumping to third on Duke’s all-time performance list at 1:47.01.
“The 200 IM was big,” Colella said. “Any time you can get multiple people back at night in a particular event, that’s where we were able to make some ground up on some schools that were ahead of us. I know we can do that again in several of our events tomorrow.”
Sophomore James Peek kept the momentum rolling in the 50 freestyle, winning the consolation final in a career-best 19.74 for the second-fastest time in program history.
In the final event of the evening, Peek teamed with senior Stefan Knight, junior David Armstrong and sophomore Mike Seaberg to earn a seventh-place finish in the 200 freestyle relay. The group won the first heat in the event and clocked the second-fastest mark on the Blue Devils’ all-time top-10 at 1:18.83.
“Every swim tonight was an improvement on our performances this morning,” Colella said. “We always talk about, whichever final we’re in, the objective is to score as high as they can and just keep moving up as high as they can. They all did a phenomenal job there.”
The Blue Devils sit in ninth place heading into the third day of competition with a team score of 216 points. NC State leads the field with 495 points, followed by Virginia Tech (459) and North Carolina (453).
Florida State
The Florida State men’s swimming and diving team had five swimmers earn spots in the final heats on the second day of the 2015 ACC Swimming and Diving Championship at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center.
“It was an interesting first day,” FSU head coach Frank Bradley said. “We didn’t take enough risks today. We got a few guys back in spots and that was very encouraging to see.”
Freshman Calvin Bryant made his ACC debut by swimming in the C final of the 500 free. Bryant went out for the early lead and held on for 400 yards, however the field caught up with him for the final four laps and he would finish sixth in the heat with a final time of 4:24.42 improving upon his 4:25.89 he swam in prelims.
The rookie earned another chance to swim by winning the second heat, placing 22nd.
“Calvin is still young,” Bradley said. “He scored our only points in the event which is a positive. He did some good things during the race and he still has two big events left and I think that swim will set him up to have a good rest of the meet.”
In the 200 IM, sophomore Jason Coombs won the consolation final with a career best time of 1:45.55, lowering his previous best that he set in prelims at 1:45.87. Coombs was able to secure ninth place points after he went from sixth to first by utilizing his strength in breaststroke, splitting 29.70. Coombs would hold off the outside lane for the win.
Senior Josh Friedel put up a career best time in the prelims of the 200 IM, qualifying him 23rd for finals. At night, Friedel made his move as expected during the backstroke portion of the race and he would move up a place after he posted a 1:48.37 in finals.
“After Coombs was left out of that top heat it was crucial that he win that B final,” Bradley said. “That’s a best time for him and he’s happy with that. Hopefully he can move on and do some great things in the 100 and 200 breast. It was also great for Josh to get a best time in that race as a senior.”
The Seminoles had two swimmers in the B final of the 50 free as Jason McCormick touched in second with a time of 19.90 and senior Connor Knight followed in 10th with a 19.92. Knight earned his spot after he broke the 20-second barrier for the first time in his career for a personal best of 19.89.
“Seeing Connor go under 20 seconds this morning was great,” Bradley said. “He stepped up in that race and gave it everything. Jason was solid and I’m glad he improved in finals.”
Following a break, FSU finished the night by taking fifth in the 200 free relay with the team of McCormick, Knight, Cadell Lyons and Coombs.
McCormick saved his fastest 50 for last, leading off with a 19.88. Knight went a 19.49 and Lyons followed with a 19.29, setting up Coombs to anchor with a 19.89.
“Those guys all put forth a good solid effort in that race,” Bradley said. “They all were a little better than they were individually. It was a good way to end the session. If we come out with a focus to risk everything and accept that we could be wildly successful or we could fail we could see a great session tomorrow. It’s a choice the guys need to make as a team and as men representing FSU.”
After two days, the Seminoles are in sixth place with a total of 272 points sitting nine points behind Virginia in fifth. Friday’s prelims will feature the 400 IM, 100 fly, 200 free, 100 breast and 100 back and will start at 10 a.m. Finals will follow at 6 p.m. and will air on ESPN3.
Louisville
The University of Louisville men’s swimming team jumped three spots and saw a school record fall twice after the first day of individual competition at the 2015 ACC Men’s Swimming Championships Thursday night at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center.
Through eight events, NC State sits in first with 495 points, followed by Virginia Tech (459) in second, and North Carolina (453) in third. Louisville (327) and Virginia (283) round out the top five.
“The guys came out ready tonight, and the highlight was Trevor Carroll’s school record setting time in the 500-freestyle, along with a few more swims which should make the NCAA field.” Said UofL head coach Arthur Albiero. “We will have great opportunities tomorrow to keep climbing in the team battle.”
In the first event of the evening, NC State’s Anton Oerskov Ipsen, who entered the nightly finals as the top seed, ran away from the field to claim the gold in the 500 freestyle. The freshman posted an NCAA A cut time of 4:13.87. UofL’s Trevor Carroll took silver and reset his own school record with a 4:16.03.
Cardinal Nolan Tesone touched fourth in the 200-IM, with a 1:44.58. Josh Quallen was eighth in 1:45.36 in the A-final. In the B-final, David Boland was 12th in 1:46.69. Virginia Tech’s Brandon Fiala took the top podium spot in 1:43.97.
In the 50-freestyle, Thomas Dahlia boarded a 19.92 for 11th place in overall in a three-way tie. Caryle Blondell was 16th overall with a 20.28. NC State junior Simonas Bilis (19.07) just missed out on the ACC record for the gold medal.
In the 200-free relay The Cardinals finished third. Shaving more than a second off their prelim time, Thomas Dahlia (19.76), Trevor Carroll (19.25), Rudy Edelen (19.61) and Caryle Blondell (19.34) combined for a 1:17.96. North Carolina, which was second in 1:17.03, joined winner NC State (1:15.62) on the podium, and all three teams finished with NCAA A cuts.
North Carolina
Paced by school record setting performances by UNC’s 200-yard freestyle relay unit and freshman Henry Campbell, North Carolina is in third place after the second day of the 2015 ACC Men’s Swimming & Diving Championships at the Georgia Tech Aquatics Center.
“Finishing tonight with an awesome 200 free reelay was a great spark for our team,” said UNC head coach Rich DeSelm. “The men on that relay hit almost everything perfectly and smashed our school record to earn a second-place finish that has our team excited for tomorrow.”
“Earlier in the evening, Henry Campbell, Mitch DeForest and Josh Beals laid it on the line in the 500 freestyle,” DeSelm continued. “Henry swam strong to finish third and swam the two fastest times ever by a Tar Heel today. Mitch and Josh both raced very well this evening. Two of our three 200 individual medleyists went lifetime bests today. We got great senior leadership in that event from co-captain Patrick Myers and Brian Bollerman and Tyler Hill. Their development over four years has been phenomenal.”
NC State leads the meet with 495 points followed by defending champion Virginia Tech with 459 points and the Tar Heels close behind in third place with 453 points. Those three teams have separated themselves from the rest of the field. Louisville is fourth with 327 points, followed by Virginia with 283 points and Florida State with 272 points. The second half of the field includes Notre Dame (252), Georgia Tech (245), Duke (216), Pitt (143), Boston College (109) and Miami (105).
The Tar Heels finished out the night with a spectacular swim in the 200-yard freestyle relay as Sam Lewis, Nic Graesser, Ben Colley and Logan Heck knocked 1.32 seconds off the previous school record in the event. The Tar Heel relay touched in 1:17.03 to attain Carolina’s third NCAA automatic qualifying time in three relay events so far (200 medley relay, 800 free relay, 200 freestyle relay).
Lewis led off the relay in a career best 19.36 seconds, just .02 of a second off Steve Cebertowicz’s school best time of 19.34. Graesser split 19.07, Colley 19.41 and Heck 19.19 to cap off the unit which broke the previous school mark of 1:18.35 established in 2011 by Cebertowicz, Kyle Ficker, Brock Park and Evan Reed at 1:18.35.
“Our sprinters stepped up big time today, with five out of six going lifetime bests and getting two each in the A and B finals,” DeSelm added. “And, of course, the 1:17.03 free reelay was awesome. We can’t wait for tomorrow’s events to start.”
Freshman Henry Campbell reached the awards stand with his third-place finish in the 500-yard freestyle. The Manassas, Va., first-year swimmer swam a school record time in the preliminaries of the event, going 4:16.77 to eclipse the previous school mark of 4:18.18 set by Chip Peterson in 2009. Campbell was just slightly off that time in the evening, going 4:17.27 and earning third place. The Tar Heels also had swimmers in the “B” and “C” finals of the event.
Junior co-captain Mitch DeForest qualified for the “B” final and took home 15th place overall with a time of 4:24.94, just off his prelim time of 4:24.49. Sophomore Josh Beals qualified for the “C” final where he finished 18th overall with a time of 4:23.43, taking almost two full seconds off his prelim time of 4:25.41.
Carolina faired well in the consolation heats of the 200-yard individual medley, getting career best times from seniors Brian Bollerman and Tyler Hill. Bollerman finished 12th overall, going 1:46.80 to move into fifth place all-time in the event at UNC. Hill placed 15th and his prelim time of 1:46.83 moved him into sixth place in UNC history, just behind Bollerman. Senior co-captain Patrick Myers took second place in the “C” final to place 18th overall with a time of 1:46.95. Junior Kurt Wohlrab and David Speese also had career best times swimming in the preliminaries.
Five of UNC’s six swimmers in the 50-yard freestyle posted career best times and the sixth missed by just .07 of a second. Top finishers for UNC were Sam Lewis in seventh place (19.48 in the prelims), Nic Graesser in eighth place (19.70 in the prelims), Logan Heck in 11th place (19.86 in prelims) and Nick Lowe in 15th place (19.98 in prelims).
With those times Lewis, Graesser, Heck and Lowe now rank 2-3-5-6 in UNC history in the 50-yard freestyle. Lucas Popp (20.08) and Philip Perdue (20.29) also had career best times in the preliminaries. Popp’s time moved him into ninth place in school history in the event.
Thursday’s finals session also factored in the results from the three-meter diving competition which was held in conjunction with the women’s championships last week. Carolina placed four divers in the Top 16 of three meter diving led by sophomore Jack Nyquist in forth place with 375.85 points, freshman Sean Burston in fifth place with 351.60 points, senior Ryan Fox in 13th place with 334.25 points and junior Ozzie Moyer in 16th place with 328.05 points.
N.C. State
Capitalizing on its day one success, the NC State men’s swimming and diving team picked up four more event titles and as many school records on day two of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Men’s Swimming Championship.
Through eight events inside the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center, the Wolfpack jumped from fifth to first in the overall standings with 495 points. Virginia Tech sits in second with 459 while UNC-Chapel Hill rounds out the top three with 453.
On top of sitting in first in the overall team standings, NC State has won six of the seven swimming events through the first two days.
Wolfpack Relays
The team of Simonas Bilis, Ryan Held, Andreas Scheillerup and David Williams claimed NC State’s third-straight relay title of the championship in the 200 freestyle relay. Their time of 1:15.62 broke the school, conference and ACC meet record, as well as earned the Pack another NCAA Championship qualifying mark.
Their performance also pushed the squad to the top of the national standings, as the Pack now owns the fastest-time in the country in the event.
A second school record was broken within the relay, as Bilis’ leadoff split time of 18.98 broke the school record and marked the first ACC swimmer to finish in under 19 seconds.
Freestyle Watch
Freshman Anton Ipsen entered the 500 freestyle ‘A’ final as the top seed and swam a time of 4:13.87 to claim the ACC Champion title, as well as own the fifth-fastest mark in the country and earn an NCAA ‘A’ standard time.
Ipsen is the first NC State male swimmer to win the 500 free event at the ACC Championship since 1985, simultaneously breaking his own school record.
The Pack claimed the gold and silver in the 50 free, as Bilis won the event with a time of 19.07 while Williams followed right behind with a 19.12. Both earned two more NCAA ‘A’ cuts for NC State and now own the third and fifth-fastest times in the country.
Bilis is the first NC State male swimmer to win the 50 free at the ACC Championship since 2006.
Held and Schiellerup finished fourth and fifth in the event with times of 19.55 and 19.58, in respective order, while Held's performance in the preliminary session (19.27) earned him an NCAA 'A' standard time.
Individual Medley
NC State entered the evening session with three swimmers in the ‘A’ final of the 200 individual medley, and finished second through fourth place. The freestyle leg of the event was a tight race, as the top five swimmers of the heat all touched the wall less than one second apart.
Stephen Coetzer touched the wall at 1:44.04 to take second place and break his school record, while Soren Dahl touched .02 second behind his teammate (1:44.06) to take third.
Christian McCurdy swam a time of 1:44.75 to take fourth and round out the Pack’s showing in the 200 IM.
Virginia
The No. 25 Virginia men’s swimming and diving team finished action on the second day of the ACC Championships Thursday (Feb. 26) at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center.
Through the second day of swimming and including all three diving events, UVa is in fourth place with 342 points, behind Virginia Tech (558), North Carolina (503) and NC State (495). Louisville is fifth (338), followed by Florida State (320), Georgia Tech (274), Notre Dame (268), Duke (216), Pitt (193), Boston College (109) and Miami (105).
“On the whole we had some strong swims today with several personal best times,” UVa head coach Augie Busch said. “Several men made finals which is obviously critical, but from there it is equally important to improve upon those performances at night, and we could have done a better job of that. Our best events are still ahead of us and we have to come out in tomorrow's prelim session and swim inspired. If we do that we will be in a great position moving forward into the meet's final three sessions.”
The 200 free relay of seniors Jake Pearce (Tulsa, Okla.) and Charlie Rommel (East Amherst, N.Y.), freshman Nicholas Magana (Scottsdale, Ariz.) and sophomore Matt Lockman (Charlottesville, Va.) placed eighth in a time of 1:19.14.
In the 500 free, sophomore Austin Quinn (Chagrin Falls, Ohio) finished eighth in the championship final in 4:23.61. Freshman Brendan Casey (Santa Monica, Calif.) placed third in the 500 free consolation final (11th overall) in a time of 4:22.65.
Rommel finished sixth in the consolation final (14th overall) in a time of 19.94. He swam a time of 19.92 in prelims, which ranks fifth on UVa’s all-time top-10 list. Competing in the C final, Pearce placed 20th overall in 20.04, while Lockman was 22nd in 20.22 and Magana was 23rd in 22.24. Magana posted a 20.04 in prelims, which ranks 10th on UVa’s all-time top-10 list.
Freshman Henrik Pohlmann (Beavercreek, Ohio) won the C final (17th overall) of the 200 IM in a time of 1:46.78.
Virginia Tech
Propelled by a gold medal from sophomore Brandon Fiala and five top-five finishes in only four events on Thursday, the Virginia Tech men’s swimming and diving team is in second place at the ACC Championships at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center after the second day of competition.
The H2Okies are in second place with a score of 459, trailing NC State by 36. Behind Tech, UNC has 453 points.
“Brandon Fiala winning the title in the 200 IM was a great moment for our men’s team,” head coach Ned Skinner said. “It means a lot, knowing that he was disappointed in his evening swims last year, and it was great to see him put that seasoned work behind him. I’m also very proud of Chris Grimmett-Norris because he sparked our team this morning and tonight, as our first swim in both. You rely on the snowball effect on a meet like this. We’ll have to have our best tomorrow morning to give ourselves a chance, and I know these guys will be ready.”
In the first race of the evening - the 500 free - Tech earned two top-five finishes when Michal Szuba took fourth with a time of 4:18.35 - only 0.2 seconds off of the school record - and Jake Ores finished fifth with a time of 4:20.32. Freshman Chris Grimmett-Norris took 13th in the event, touching the wall after 4:23.95.
Brandon Fiala won Tech’s first gold medal of the championships in the 200 IM after swimming a time of 1:43.97. Only a few spots behind him, Owen Burns took sixth with a time of 1:45.13. In the morning prelims, both Brandon Fiala and Burns broke the 200 IM school record, but it was Brandon Fiala’s time that set the new school record at 1:43.73. In the same event, after taking fifth in the B-final, Lucas Bureau finished 14th overall.
Brandon’s younger brother, C.J. Fiala, took sixth in the 50 free with a new personal-best time of 19.59.
Thursday’s team scores had no diving scores factored into them, but 3-meter team scores will be added at the conclusion of Friday’s competition and platform team scores will be added at the conclusion of Saturday’s competition. That will give Tech 80 diving points on Friday and 99 points Saturday.
