2015 ACC Men’s Fan Guide: NC State and Louisville To Battle In The Pool For ACC Championship Title

2015 ACC MEN’S CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Dates: Wednesday, Feb. 25 – Saturday, Feb. 28; Prelims 10AM/Finals 6PM (Eastern Time)
  • **Wednesday’s events have been rescheduled for 3:00pm due to inclement weather**
• Location: Georgia Tech – Atlanta, GA
• Defending Champion: Virginia Tech (results)
• Live Results
• Live Video (ESPN 3)
• Psych Sheet
• Championship Central

An incredible team battle is gearing up in Atlanta between three teams. The defending champions, Virginia Tech, will hope to hold off NC State and ACC newcomers, the University of Louisville. Last weekend, Georgia Tech hosted the women’s ACC Championships. They also competed in Men’s diving last weekend, which adds a little drama heading into this weekend.

Virginia Tech is sitting comfortably in first place after the diving events with 247 points. That kind of point spread is comparable to having two additional swimmers that win all three of their individual events. NC State will be affected the most by that spread, as they chose not to enter any divers in exchange for an extra swimmer. NC State is currently in last place without any points. North Carolina also faired well in the diving events and are now in second with 194 points. Below is a breakdown of all the points scored during diving. 

You can read more about the diving events and their scoring impacts in Braden Keith’s article by clicking here. 

Diving will help Virginia Tech in the team scores, but it will be a battle in the pool between Louisville and NC State. You can expect a lot of fast swimming over the weekend in Atlanta. Coming into the meet, there are already 5 NCAA “A” cuts and numerous NCAA “B” Cut times. Duke sophomore Peter Kropp led the country in the 100 breaststroke prior to the start of all the conference championship meets with his time of 52.02. The other individual “A” cut time comes from Louisville sophomore Grigory Tarasevich with his time of 1:40.71 in the 200 backstroke. Louisville also has three relays with NCAA “A” cut times.

SCHEDULE

Wednesday

• 200 Medley Relay
• 800 Freestyle Relay

Thursday

• 500 Freestyle
• 200 IM
• 50 Freestyle
• 200 Freestyle Relay

Friday

• 400 IM
• 100 Butterfly
• 200 Freestyle
• 100 Breaststroke
• 100 Backstroke
• 400 Medley Relay

Saturday

• 1650 Freestyle
• 200 Backstroke
• 100 Freestyle
• 200 Breaststroke
• 200 Butterfly
• 400 Freestyle

STARS –

Boston College – Dan Kelly (Junior Sprinter)

Duke – Peter Kropp (Sophomore Breaststroker), Bradley Cline (Sophomore IMer), Michael Miller (Sophomore IMer)

Florida State – Connor Knight (Senior Butterflier), Cadell Lyons (Senior Butterflier), Jason Coombs (Sophomore breaststroker) –

Georgia Tech – Andrew Kosic (Senior Sprinter), Youssef Hammoud (Junior Sprinter), Ben Southern (Sophomore Butterflier)

Louisville – Nolan Tesone (Junior IMer), Pedro Coutinho (Junior Butterflier), Trevor Carroll (Sophomore Freestyler), Grigory Tarasevich (Sophomore Backstroker), Thomas Dalia (Senior Breaststroker), Caryle Blondell (Senior Sprinter)

North Carolina – Sam Lewis (Junior Backstroker/Butterflier), Ben Colley (Junior Butterflier), Nic Graesser (Junior Backstroker)

NC State – Anton Ipsen (Freshman Freestyler), Simonas Bilis (Junior Sprinter), David Williams (Senior Sprinter), Stephen Coetzer (Senior Backstroker/IMer), Christian McCurdy (Junior Butterflier/IMer)

Notre Dame – Zach Stephens (Senior Breaststroker/IMer), Jon Williamson (Senior Butterflier), Tom Anderson (Sophomore IMer)

Pitt – Zachary Lierley (Sophomore IMer), Sean Heiden (Junior Sprinter), Luke Nosbisch (Senior Breaststroker)

Virginia – Yannick Kaeser (Junior Breaststroker), Austin Quinn (Sophomore IMer), Brendan Casey (Freshman Freestyler/IMer)

Virginia Tech – Collin Higgins (Senior Backstroker), Michael Szuba (Junior Freestyler), Morgan Latimer (Senior Backstroker/Butterflier)

SHOWDOWNS

Backstroke – The 100 backstroke will be a very tight race. Louisville’s Grigory Tarasevich will be the top seed with his time of 46.09, but there are a handful of other swimmers we can’t forget to watch for. Andreas Schiellerup from NC State is the only swimmer in the field that has been under 46 seconds in the last two years. He is seeded fourth this year with his time of 47.31, but expect a big race for him on Friday. Another swimmer to pay attention to is Virginia Tech’s Morgan Latimer. He is seeded 8th this year with his time of 47.62, but he had one of the fastest times in the conference last year at 46.48. The last 100 backstroker I want to mention is North Carolina’s Nic Graesser. Graesser is currently seeded 11th with a 48.22, but if he can get back to his time of 46.6 from last season, he will be a factor in the final.

The 200 backstroke welcomes back Virginia Tech’s Collin Higgins. Higgins is the fastest returning swimmer in the conference after posting a time of 1:40.10 last year. He is currently seeded third behind Louisville sophomore’s Tarasevich and Aaron Greene with his time of 1:42.69. Tarasevich has the best time of the season at 1:40.71, and Greene is not far behind him with the second best time of 1:42.18. Another name to watch will be NC State’s Stephen Coetzer. Even though his time of 1:47.68 from this season will barely make the seeded prelim heats, his time of 1:40.53 from last year will be a threat.

Breaststroke – Duke’s Peter Kropp leads the ACC with an individual “A” cut time of 52.02 in the 100 breaststroke. That was the fastest time in the country, even faster than American Record holder Kevin Cordes, prior to the SEC Championships. He will be the favorite to win this years race, but it will be a tight race with Louisville’s Thomas Dahlia. Dahlia had the fastest time of any returning swimmers from last year with his 52.09. He is the fourth seed for this year’s meet with his time of 52.69. Zach Stpehens from Notre Dame is another swimmer to watch. He has improved ever year and is already .05 faster than he was last year with his number 3 seed at 52.54. Yannick Kaeser from Virginia has already been almost a half second faster than he was last year to post the second seed of 52.47.

In the 200 race, ND’s Zach Stephens is the guy to beat, despite his fourth place seed time. He was 1:53.34 last season and had the fastest time of any returning swimmer. The number 2 seed, Thomas Dahlia from Louiville, will also be a major player in this event. He is right at his best time from last season and had a great summer, winning the 200 LCM breaststroke at the French Championships. Virginia’s Kaeser is the top seeded swimmer going into this year’s meet at 1:53.79. He has looked good all season, and will be hard to beat on Saturday. We also expect Peter Kropp to drop some time from his seventh place seed, but the shorter distance breaststroke races suit his stroke better. Over the summer, he missed the Jr World Record in the 50m breaststroke by tenths of a second. He should final in the 200, but I don’t expect him to be in the top three in this event.

Butterfly – Without Florida State’s weapon from last season, Pawel Sankovich, the butterfly races have dramatically opened up. Connor Knight from FSU looks to be the favorite to sweep the butterfly events this year, despite a talented group of butterfliers from UNC and NC State chasing him down. Knight is currently the second seed in the 100 and the top seed in the 200 butterfly.

In the 100 butterfly, Knight is one of two swimmers that have been under 46 seconds in their careers. Knight was 45.83 last season and UNC’s Sam Lewis managed to sneak under as well with his time of 45.99. They will be joined by the top seeded swimmer, Pedro Coutinho from Louisville and NC State’s Soeren Dahl. Coutinho has already been 46.46 this season and Dahl was 46.5 last year. We can expect a big jump from Virginia Tech’s Morgan Latimer as well. He is seeded almost two seconds slower than he was last year in 14th with a 48.33.

In the 200, Knight will have a battle with UNC’s Ben Colley and the ACC record holder from NC State, Christian McCurdy. McCurdy is currently seeded fifth with his time of 1:44.68, but if he swims anything like he did last year, then watch out. He had the fastest time of any of the returning swimmers from last year with his time of 1:41.72. Colley was not far off of McCurdy last year at 1:42.19, but he has looked a little stronger in season, and is therefore seeded fourth at 1:44.32. Knight was also in the picture last year, finishing with a time of 1:42.25. With Knight’s in-season time of 1:43.03, I believe he is the favorite to win this year.

Freestyle – Let’s start off by taking a look at the sprinters. NC State is hoping to lock down the sprint events with their two big guns; Simonas Bilis and David Williams. Bilis is the top seed in the 50 free this year at 19.28, and despite what the psych sheet says, is .03 seconds off of the NCAA “A” cut time of 19.25 (not 19.32) in the event. He has also been under 20 seconds in 8 races this season. Williams is the fastest returning sprinter in the event from last year. He is seeded 7th at 20.00, but his 19.04 from last year will be difficult to beat. Georgia Tech’s Andrew Kosic is the second seed in the 50 freestyle at 19.44, and he is already right at his best time from last season. The other swimmer that has the potential to make an impact is Louisville’s Caryle Blondell, but he hasn’t been as fast at their championship format meets this season. He is currently seeded 12th at 20.15, but has been 19.5 in the past. He has been between 20.15 and 20.23 five times this season, all of which have been done in dual meets.

In the 100 freestyle, GT’s Andrew Kosic has the fastest seed time at 42.74. He will be challenged by NC State’s Simonas Bilis. Bilis has been 43.21 already this season, but last year he was 42.19 in this event. I don’t know if Kosic has enough to hang on at the end of this race, but it should be fun to watch the two of them battle it out. UL’s Caryle Blondell is the third seed at 43.49, and again, that time came from a dual meet. Last year, he was 42.7 in this event. NC State’s David Williams has also been under 43 seconds in the past, but he is currently the 20th seed at 44.63.

Next, we have the mid-distance guys. The freestylers from the ACC can be thankful that Louisville waited to join the conference until after their 1:31 200 freestyler, Joao De Lucca, graduated. Another swimmer from Lousiville, however, is the top seed in the event this year. UL’s Trevor Carroll has the fastest time of the year so far at 1:34.77 and is almost two seconds ahead of any non-Louisville swimmer. Carroll’s teammate, Matthias Lindenbauer is seeded second at 1:35.77 and NC State’s Simonas Bilis is third at 1:36.43. Despite Carroll’s seed time being close to two seconds ahead of Bilis, Carroll will have a tough race against Bilis and David Williams from NC State. Williams is only seeded 19th at 1:38.65, but last season, Williams was 1:34.14 and Bilis was 1:34.19. The only other swimmer that have been under 1:35 in the last two years is Florida State’s Kevin Rogers. Rogers is seeded 9th at 1:37.75, but last season he posted a time of 1:34.52.

The 500 freestyle will be a very young race. NC State freshman Anton Ipsen leads the way with his top seeded time of 4:18.70, but Louisville sophomore, Trevor Carroll, is only .03 seconds behind him with the second seed at 4:18.73. Virginia’s Austin Quinn has also been under 4:20 this year for the third seed with his time of 4:19.90. Virginia Tech’s Michael Szuba is the fourth seed at 4:21, but last year he posted a 4:19.55. FSU’s Kevin Rogers finished .01 behind Szuba last year at 4:19.56, and is the fifth seed this year at 4:23.

Finally, we can’t leave out the distance swimmers. NC State’s Anton Ipsen is the top seed in a second event, the 1650 freestyle, with his time of 15:01.52. There seems to be an error in the psych sheet, but Louisvilles Marcelo Acosta should be the number 2 seed with his time of 15:02.00 from two weeks ago. The third fastest miler is Ipsen’s teammate, Austin Snyder, at 15:10.98. Snyder is the fastest returning swimmer from last year with his time of 15:09.06. Sixth seeded Jake Ores from Virginia Tech was 15:09.14 last season, finishing right behind Snyder. Louisville’s Bryan Dragonosky is the third seed with his time of 15:11.12, which is already two seconds faster than he was last season.

IM –  Last but not least, the 200 IM will open up this year without Sankovich. In the 200 IM, Notre Dame’s Zach Stephens is the top seeded swimmer with his time of 1:44.26, which is just off his best from last year of 1:44.01. Louisville’s Nolan Tesone is seeded second at 1:44.95, and is the only other swimmer that has been under 1:45 this season. Last season, however, NC State’s Stephen Coetzer was 1:44.26. Coetzer is currently the 13th seed. Another fast time came from Virginia Tech’s Brandon Fiala at 1:44.71 last year. Fiala is seeded 10th this year with his time of 1:47.55.

The 400 IM is led by Louisville’s Nolan Tesone with a time of 3:46.69. Three other swimmers have all been under 4:50 this year as well; UVA’s Austin Quinn, UofL’s Carlos Claverie, and Pitt’s Zachary Lierley. Other big names to watch for are NC State’s Christian McCurdy and Virginia Tech’s Robert Owen. McCurdy is seeded fifth at 3:52, but last year he was 3:43.11 in the event. Owen is also seeded at 2:52 in 8th, but he was 3:45.24 in the event last year.

 Relays – The relays are really hard to predict, but I think every relay is going to come down to NC State and Louisville. Both teams have a ton of depth and a lot of talent. Coming into the meet, both of the teams are top 3 in every relay. Louisville has “A” cut times in the 200 medley relay, the 800 freestyle relay, and the 400 freestyle relay. Louisville is also the top seed in the 400 medley relay as well with an NCAA “B” cut time. NC State is the top seed in the 200 freestyle relay with a “B” but time as well. In the 400 medley relay, Virginia is seeded second with a “B” cut time, and their seed time is only a second and a half behind the Cardinals in that event. The 200 medley relay is the other relay where NC State is not seeded in the top 2. Duke has an NCAA “B” cut time in the 200 medley relay for the number 2 seed in the event. Duke is seeded a little over a second behind the Cardinals.

Selections

Despite being down 247 points before the meet even starts for NC State, we believe that this is their meet to win. Louisville looks a little better on paper going into the meet, but they’ve also rested for a few more meets throughout the season. Louisville kicked off their championship season with their “First Chance Meet” a few weeks ago. A lot of fast times came out of that meet, including two new school records in the 1000 and 1650 freestyles. Even though Louisville looks a little faster going into the meet, I have a feeling NC State will be ready to race.

Diving will significantly help Virginia Tech, which is why I believe they will finish third. The Hokies are the defending ACC Champions, but they graduated one of their scoring seniors last year and are without two of their other top scorers, Joe Bonk and Jan Switkowski. I think diving will keep them in the conversation this year, but losing those three contributors from last year will prevent them from repeating as ACC Champions.

Making my selections for the middle of the pack was a lot more challenging. I made my best guess based on the psych sheets and how the teams performed last year. I know this is not perfect, so if you disagree, feel free to respectfully express your opinion in the comment section and make your best selection.

1. NC State
2. Louisville
3. Virginia Tech
4. North Carolina
5. Virginia
6. Notre Dame
7. Florida State
8. Georgia Tech
9. Duke
10. Pitt
11. Boston College
12. Miami (FL) – Diving Only