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Today is the first day of the NCAA Men’s Swimming Championship, where the Pack is “seeded” 1. I say “seeded” because even though there are no seeds like the BB championship, the Pack brings the best seed times to the meet, even though the favorite is Texas.
In event number #1, the Pack wins the 800 free relay! They set a new NCAA and US Open record. That’s a fantastic start to the meet, in an race that Texas was heavy favorite to win.
I will update when they start the bulk of the events tomorrow.
Break out the Fresca.
They filled the pool with it.
A rising tide lifts all boats Mc.
The Women’s team finished 7th (best ever) and the Men are slated to do the same.
Everyone should see the value of it, or at least not make light of the accomplishment. 😉
Quick summary of the morning heats:
– 200 free relay: State qualifies for the A final with the third best time, only 0.21 seconds behind Texas and 0.04 behind Florida. Anything can happen in this relay, we may win it all or finish out of the top three.
– 500 free: Anton Ipsen barely gets into the A final in 8th place. Adam Linker will swim in the B final (each final has 8 swimmers/teams, all 16 get points).
– 200 medley: In the best individual swim of the day for State, Andreas Vazaios qualifies in 2nd place for the A final. Soeren Dahl makes the B final.
– 50 free: Olympic gold medalist Ryan Held swims the 3rd best time to get to the A final. Caeleb Dressel from Florida, another Olympic gold medal winner, seems to be in a different league in this race, will be though to beat.
– 400 medley relay: This is probably the weakest of all relays for State. With an alternative lineup, State qualifies for the B final in 12th place.
Thanks for info Manu – good stuff.
Really enjoy watching swimming – it’s a great sport to watch and participate in – perhaps the worst ever to practice though.
Love the updates. And I’ll drink a Fresca, a Budweiser (yecch!) or a really good craft beer to any Wolfpack championship.
Communism is not love. Communism is a hammer which we use to crush the enemy. Mao Zedong
In a somewhat disappointing evening, the Pack left some good points on the table, as it is currently placed in fourth place, behind Texas, California and Florida.
In the 200 free relay, State placed 4th, just a bit slower than in the morning heat. Even matching their morning time would not have made any difference in the final results.
In the 500 free, Anton Ipsen finished 8th, matching his seeding after the heats. Adam Linker placed 15th in the B final.
The 200 IM was the race that I thought we may see another national title for the Pack, since Andreas Vazaios finished 2nd in the heats. In a much slower race for all swimmers, Vazaios placed 7th, going almost one second lower than in the heats. Soeren Dhal finished 16th in the B final.
The best result for State came in the 50 free, where Ryan Held finished 2nd, just behind Dressel, but beating another Olympic champion (although in the 100 fly), Joseph Schooling. Held went 0.32 faster than in the heats with 18.60, but Dressel proved to still be at another level in this event, finishing in 18.23.
After the diving finals (I would like to know why we don’t have any divers here, maybe someone with inside knowledge can comment), the Pack swam in the B final of the 400 IM relay, matching the 12th place after the heats.
Since tonight is a slow sports night (/s), let me close the summary of the NCAA Swimming Championships (I apologize for not updating earlier for those following the thread).
The Pack finished in fourth place, matching last year’s finish (which happened to be the best ever!). The first four teams were the same as last year: Texas, Cal, Florida, NC State. I want to emphazise how great it is to see the the Pack in the top five of this sport for two consecutive years. This would be the equivalent of doing it in basketball in three years’ time. (A little history, we were great until the mid 80s, then kind of disappeared, hired an alum a few years ago, and now we are in consecutive “final fours”.)
After winning the 800 relay on the first night, there were no other relay or individual titles for the Pack, but this was a meet in which we met expectations (imagine that!). Ryan Held had a third place finish in the 100 free, and a fourth place in the 100 fly. Andreas Vazaios was another A finalist for the Pack, finishing fifth in the 200 fly and eight in the 100 back. Anton Ipsen finished seventh in the mile. Those three swimmers are juniors, so those should be good points for the Pack next year. Senior Soeren Dahl was the other individual finalist, finishing seventh in the 200 free. NC State also had two more relays in the top eight; 200 medley in sixth place and 400 free in seventh place (couldn’t defend last year’s title).
I don’t follow swimming to the point of knowing recruiting rankings and the like, but it seems that the freshman class of 2017 is a strong one, so we should still be favorites in the ACC next year. Go Pack!
Love this, Manu Manu!
Communism is not love. Communism is a hammer which we use to crush the enemy. Mao Zedong
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