2015 ACC Men’s Championships: Day 2 Prelims Real Time Recaps

2015 ACC MEN’S CHAMPIONSHIPS – DAY 2 PRELIMS

• Dates: Wednesday, Feb. 25 – Saturday, Feb. 28; Prelims 10AM/Finals 6PM (Eastern Time)
• Location: Georgia Tech – Atlanta, GA
• Defending Champion: Virginia Tech (results)
• Live Results
• Live Video (ESPN 3)
• Psych Sheet
• Championship Central
• SwimSwam’s Fan Guide

ICYMI:

Day 1 Finals Recap

The first event of the day will be our first chance to watch NC State’s Anton Ipsen. NC State looked great yesterday, winning the 200 medley relay and breaking the ACC record in the 800 free relay to win that as well. Ipsen was not on either of those relays, but if he swims as well as his teammates did last night, he will be fast today. Another swimmer to watch this morning is Louisville’s Trevor Carroll. Carroll led off the 800 free relay last night close to a second faster than he was in December in the 200. If that is any indication of how he will swim today, he can definitely challenge Ipsen in this race.

Zach Stephens from Notre Dame is the top seed in the 200 IM, and he was on point last night in the relay, anchoring the 200 medley in 19.4. NC State’s Soeren Dahl was another swimmer that swam well last night, splitting 20.5 on the butterfly leg of the relay. He is currently seeded fourth going into the meet. Others to watch for are Louisville’s Nolan Tesone and NC State’s Stephen Coetzer.

The 50 freestyle is shaping up to be an NC State shootout between Simonas Bilis and David Williams. Bilis looked strong in the 800 free relay with his 1:32.05 split, but Williams also showed his cards with an 18.55 anchor split on the 200 medley relay. The 50 free could be anyones game. I expect that it will take 19.7 or better to make the A final this year.

500 Freestyle

• 2014 ACC Champion – Jan Switkowski, Virginia Tech – 4:18.15
• NCAA “A” Standard – 4:14.59
• ACC Record – 4:10.00 – Matt Mclean, UVA, 2009

NC State’s Anton Ipsen will be your top seed going into tonight’s final with a time of 4:15.43. That time will stand as the 7th fastest time in the country this season. UNC freshman Henry Campbell had a huge swim, however, dropping more than 10 seconds from his entry time to take the second seed with his time of 4:16.77. His best time of the season before today was 4:27.23, but in high school he was a 4:19.93. Louisville’s Trevor Carroll dropped close to a second to claim the third seed with his time of 4:17.96, and Virginia Tech’s Michael Szuba finished fourth at 4:20.21 with a small drop as well.

Joining them in the A final will be Jake Ores (VT), Adan Linker (NCSU), Austin Quinn (UVA), and Yuval Safra (GTCH). It took a 4:21.48 to make the A final, a 4:24.89 to make the B final, and a 4:26.32 to make the C final.

200 IM

• 2014 ACC Champion – Pavel Sankovich, FSU – 1:41.92
• NCAA “A” Standard – 1:42.76
• ACC Record – 1:41.92 – Pavel Sankovich, FSU, 2014

NC State’s Stephen Coetzer dropped a huge 4.5 seconds to claim the top seed in the men’s 200 IM with his time of 1:43.65. That will stand as the 11th fastest time in the country so far this year. Virginia Tech’s Brandon Fiala dropped close to four seconds t0 post the second fastest time of 1:43.73. Soeren Dahl had the third fastest time of the morning at 1:44.41 for NC State and Louisville’s Nolan Tesone was fourth at 1:44.58.

Joining them in the A final will be Owen Burns (VT), Christian McCurdy (NCSU), Michael Miller (Duke), and Josh Quallen (UofL). It took a 1:45.36 to make the A final, a 1:46.91 to make the B final, and a 1:48.67 to make the C final.

50 Freestyle

• 2014 ACC Champion – Paul Murray, FSU – 19.04
• NCAA “A” Standard – 19.25
• ACC Record – 19.04 – Paul Murray, FSU, 2014

Simonas Bilis secured the top spot in the 50 freestyle for NC State with his time of 19.13, just barely missing the ACC record of 19.04. His teammate, David Williams, qualified second with his time of 19.18, giving both athletes that “A” time standard and moving them to fourth and fifth in the country this year. Another NC State swimmer finished in third. Ryan Held just missed the NCAA A cut time of 19.25 with his time of 19.27 which will stand as the sixth fastest time 6th fastest time in the country this year. Georgia Tech’s Andrew Kosic finished fourth with his time of 19.29.

Joining them in the A final will be Sam Lewis (UNC), Cj Fiala (VT), Nic Graesser (UNC), and Andreas Schiellerup (NCSU). It took a 19.72 to make the A final, a 19.98 to make the B final, and a 20.10 to make the C final. A swim off will be required for the final spot in the C final. John Newell from NC State and Lucas Popp from UNC tied for 24th at 20.10.

Following a short break, NC State added another final swim for tonight as John Newell won the swim off with a time of 19.91 to Popp’s 20.08.