2018 ACC MEN’S CHAMPIONSHIPS
- When: Wednesday, February 21st to Saturday, February 24th | Prelims 10:00am | Finals 6:00pm
- Where: Greensboro Aquatics Center, Greensboro, NC (Eastern Time Zone)
- Defending Champion: NC State Wolfpack (results) fix
- Psych Sheet: here
- Live Results: here
- Streaming: WatchESPN (subscription required)
- Championship Central: here
The first full day of the 2018 Men’s ACC Swimming and Diving Championships is underway. The NC State Wolfpack are favorites in all three individual events, with defending champions Anton Ipsen (500 freestyle), Andreas Vazaios (200 IM), and Ryan Held (50 freestyle).
500 Freestyle
Conference Record: Matt McLean, Virginia, 4:10.00 (2009)
Meet Record: Matt McLean, Virginia, 4:10.00 (2009)
Defending Champion: Anton Ipsen, NC State, 4:11.92
Top 8 finishers:
1. Anton Ipsen, NC State, 4:14.67
2. Eric Knowles, NC State, 4:15.46
3. Sam Magnan, Virginia, 4:15.64
4. Zach Yeadon, Notre Dame, 4:16.27
5. Robby Giller, Virginia, 4:16.95
6. Dan Erlenmeyer, NC State, 4:17.51
7. Gil Kiesler, NC State, 4:17.59
8. Marcelo Acosta, Louisville, 4:18.01
NC State started off red-hot with four swimmers in the top eight, including huge drops from Eric Knowles–whose previous best was 4:21.43 earlier this year, and just 4:23.29 a year ago–and Israeli freshman Gil Kiesler. However, tonight’s top seed is defending champion and heavy favorite Anton Ipsen, at 4:14.67. Notably, Virginia continued its momentum from last night with two swimmers of their own in the top eight, led by junior Sam Magnan (4:15.64).
Youth is the other story of the event; four of the top eight finishers are freshmen, led by Knowles and Notre Dame’s Zach Yeadon.
200 Individual Medley
Conference Record: Andreas Vazaios, NC State, 1:41.25 (2017)
Meet Record: Andreas Vazaios, NC State, 1:41.25 (2017)
Defending Champion: Andreas Vazaios, NC State, 1:41.25
Top 8 finishers:
1. Andreas Vazaios, NC State, 1:42.62
2. Norbert Szabo, Virginia Tech, 1:43.72
3. Rob Whitacre, Notre Dame, 1:44.22
4. Daniel Sos, Louisville, 1:44.72
5. Etay Gurevich, Louisville, 1:44.81
6. Carlos Claverie, Louisville, 1:44.89
7. Bryce Keblish, Virginia, 1:45.04
8. Max Polianski, Florida State, 1:45.12
Andreas Vazaios of NC State ran away with the morning heats, putting down a 1:42.62; he’ll be the heavy favorite tonight. Louisville got big swims from the trio of Daniel Sos, Etay Gurevich, and Carlos Claverie to try to keep pace in the team race.
Overall, with just 2 of the top 11 returning swimmers from a year ago competing again (including Justin Ress scratching in favor of the 50 free), the 200 IM was overall much slower than a year ago; Vazaios was the only swimmer under 1:43.5, while there were four swimmers under that mark in prelims a year ago.
50 Freestyle
Conference Record: Ryan Held, NC State, 18.68 (2017)
Meet Record: Ryan Held, NC State, 18.68 (2017)
Defending Champion: Ryan Held, NC State, 18.68
Top 8 finishers:
1. Ryan Held, NC State, 18.86
2. Justin Ress, NC State, 18.96
3. Andrej Barna, Louisville, 19.15
4. Will Pisani, Florida State, 19.28
5. Ian Ho, Virginia Tech, 19.38
6. Giovanni Izzo, NC State, 19.39
7. Chad Mylin, Florida State, 19.43
8. Justin Plaschka, Notre Dame, 19.51
The star sprint duo of Ryan Held and Justin Ress both cracked the 19-second barrier this morning for NC State. While Held is both the conference and meet record holder in the event, Ress has been on an absolute tear for the past year, and could come out on top tonight. The Wolfpack got a third swimmer into the A-final in Giovanni Izzo; he finished sixth in 19.39.
Andrej Barna of Louisville cut nearly three tenths off his best time to clock a 19.15, and may serve to be the best challenger to Held or Ress tonight. Notably, Justin Plaschka of Notre Dame, last year’s runner-up in the event, snuck in eighth at 19.51.
Great Morning for NC State. Could build a large enough lead after the first day to win it.
WOLF-PACK!
Two athletes from UVA finaled 500 yard freestyle. Happy days are here again!
3 sub 19s with Ress, Held, Jackson in prelims ?
UNC…ouch
DeSelmed.
13 empty swims in just one morning session, including a whopping 0-for-7 in the 50 free.
So what is it that he does or doesn’t do that leads to the lack of satisfactory results?
Where to begin….
Great time drop for Magnan from Virginia. That will be an NCAA invited swimmer for them. Giller might also get invited. Lets see if they have anything left for finals.
Giller no way. It’s going to be 4:15 high this year.
Perhaps true, but He’s got another swim tonight.
Good chance for Giller to improve his time since he lapped his Heat. More competition should make him swim faster. Go Hoos!
Giller was 4:23 in HS and best of 4:31 this season. 4:16. Boom. So it’s not just DeSorbo and the sprinters.
And on the women’s side 4:39 was a big drop by freshman Paige Madden. And just for a commitment from class of 2019 Maddie Donohoe (already 4:44/9:37/16:00 as a 16-yr-old. UVA is going to be a complete team.
Love it. I guess I’ll go out and drop about 15 seconds in my 500 so I can make A Finals. Heck of a swim. Four freshman in the A Final and 3 in the B. Wonder what they are supplementing the baby milk with these days! Freshman Alvin Jiang of NC in the 50 free – out in 9.49, back in 11.42. Must not be drinking the same milk as the freshmen in the 500. How do you die in a 50 free?
the answer is ‘DeSelm’
Ouch! Brutal…
Id like to see them make strides in the strokes too – not just Freestyles.
It’s a little hard to do that on day 1 when 2 Of 3 events are free. But Zach Fonf went 1:44.3 tonight in IM – very solid
Is this suppose to say justin ress? Who is Eric Ress
Fixed; Eric Ress swam at Indiana back in the day when I competed, mixed them up in my head just now.
Great Backstroker, Almost made the French Olympic team if I’m not mistaken.
I should wait until after tonight’s finals, but would be curious to know how rested they have Molacek? His seed in the 100 free is right around the ’17 cut off.
Justin Ress… look out for him in march.
he looks very fast right now