2021 ACC Men’s Swimming Championships
- When: Wednesday, February 24th to Saturday, February 27th Prelims 10:00 am | Finals 6:00 pm (1650 prelims Saturday at 4:00 pm)
- Where: Greensboro Aquatic Center, Greensboro, North Carolina (Eastern Time Zone)
- Defending Champion: North Carolina State University (NC State) (29x, 6th-straight) (results)
- Streaming: ACC Network
- Championship Central: Here
- Detailed Timeline: Here
- Psych Sheets: Here
- Live Results
- Thursday Prelims Heat Sheet
After a wild first evening of racing that saw ten NCAA ‘A’ relay cuts and numerous school records, the first full day of swimming of the 2021 ACC Men’s Championships gets going this morning with prelims of the 500 free, 200 IM, and 50 free.
One interesting wrinkle about today is that we won’t see any of 2020’s champions in these three events back to defend their titles, but we will see two 2019 champions. The day will begin with the 500 free, where NC State sophomore Ross Dant holds the top seed with a time of 4:14.04, but his teammate, Eric Knowles, won this event in 2019, and holds the #2 seed. In the 200 IM, top-seed Caio Pumputis of Georgia Tech will be looking to reclaim his crown after winning the title in 2019, but finishing 2nd by a scant 0.04s last year.
Finally, we’ll have the 50 free, where UVA freshman Matt Brownstead has been two-tenths faster than anyone else in the conference this season, and also had the fastest free split in the field on last night’s 200 medley relay, but he’ll have his work cut out against sprint opponents like Pitt senior Blaise Vera, who swam fly, not free, last night, and had one of the ten fastest splits ever.
Scores After Day 1 (Including All Diving)
While the live results currently only include the 3m diving event, Meet Mobile (and our math) shows that this is what the team scores look currently with all three diving events and the first two relays all taken into account:
- UNC – 304
- Virginia Tech – 249
- Louisville – 238
- Miami (FL) – 207
- FSU – 205
- Georgia Tech – 191
- NC State – 174
- Duke – 152
- Pitt – 120
- UVA – 106
- Notre Dame – 82
- Boston College – 66
500 Free – Prelims
- ACC Record – 4:09.13, Anton Ipsen (NC State), 2018
- ACC Meet Record – 4:10.00, Matt McLean (Virginia), 2010
- 2020 Champion – Zach Yeadon (Notre Dame), 4:10.39
Top 8:
- Ross Dant (NC State) – 4:12.54
- Jack Hoagland (Notre Dame) – 4:13.04
- Jack Walker (Virginia) – 4:14.96
- Yordan Yanchev (Florida State) – 4:15.02
- Antani Ivanov (Virginia Tech) – 4:16.21
- Eric Knowles (NC State) – 4:16.40
- Baturalp Unlu (Georgia Tech) – 4:16.47
- James Plage (NC State) – 4:17.82
Tonight’s A-final will look pretty similar to last year’s, with five men returning. NC State sophomore Ross Dant put up the fastest time of the morning with a 4:12.54 in the final heat. That’s a new lifetime best for Dant, whose previous best of 4:13.77 came during his 4th-place finish last year.
Notre Dame’s Jack Hoagland and UVA’s Jack Walker took 3rd and 2nd last year, resepctively, and the pair have the #2 and #3 seeds this morning, going 4:13.04 and 4:14.96, both significantly faster than they were in last year’s prelims.
FSU freshman Yordan Yanchev blasted a 4:15.02 from the first heat to qualify 4th overall. Yanchev holds multiple Bulgarian long course records, and when he announced his commitment in the fall of 2019, we noted that his 400 LCM time converted to roughly a 4:17.98 in the 500 free. While we know that LCM-SCY conversions aren’t super-reliable, in this case it seems to have worked, despite Yanchev being relatively new to SCY competition.
Returning A-finalists Antani Ivanov of Virginia Tech and Eric Knowles of NC State qualified 6th and 7th, with times of 4:16.40 and 4:16.47. Knowles won this event in 2019. That’s a lifetime best for Ivanov, whose previous best of 4:17.52 came during last year’s prelims.
There will be a total of three freshmen in tonight’s A-final, as Georgia Tech’s Baturalp Unlu (4:16.47) and NC State’s James Plage (4:17.82) round out the top eight. Unlu’s previous best was a 4:19.19 from the UGA Invite, while Plage’s previous best was a 4:18.33 from the UNC Invite.
200 IM – Prelims
- ACC Record – 1:39.35, Andreas Vazaois (NC State), 2019
- Meet Record – 1:41.24, Andreas Vazaois (NC State), 2017
- 2020 Champion – Ted Schubert (Virginia) – 1:43.09
Top 8:
- Caio Pumputis (Georgia Tech) – 1:43.67
- Sam Schilling (Virginia) 1:44.18
- Evgenii Somov (Louisville) – 1:44.55
- Sean Conway (Virginia) – 1:44.57
- Noah Bowers (NC State) – 1:44.69
- Carles Coll Marti (Virginia Tech) – 1:44.78
- Erge Gezmis (NC State) – 1:44.83
- Casey Storch (Virginia) – 1:44.98
2019 champion Caio Pumputis of Georgia Tech will looking to take back his title tonight after putting up a 1:43.67, the only man under 1:44 this morning. Behind him, the teams we expect to compete for the top four spots in the team standings accounted for the other seven spots.
UVA put three men into the A-final. Sam Schilling put up a lifetime best of 1:44.17 to take the #2 seed, and he’ll be joined by last returning finalists Sean Conway (1:44.57) and Casey Storch (1:44.98).
Louisville’s Evgenii Somov also returns to the A-final, qualifying 3rd with a 1:44.55. He took 3rd overall last year.
NC State joined UVA as the only school with more than one swimmer in the top. Erge Gezmis (1:44.83), who took 3rd overall returns, and teammate Noah Bowers (1:44.69) swam a lifetime best to qualify as well.
Virginia Tech’s Carles Coll Marti rounds out the top 8 with a 1:44.78 qualifying time.
50 Free – Prelims
- ACC record – 18.56, Ryan Held (NC State), 2017
- Meet Record – 18.68, Ryan Held (NC State), 2018
- 2020 Champion –Nyls Korstanje (NC State), 19.25
Top 8:
- Haridi Sameh (Louisville) – 19.14
- Matt Brownstead (Virginia) – 19.19
- Blaise Vera (Pitt) – 19.30
- Youssef Ramadan (Virginia Tech) – 19.37
- Tommy Hallock (Virginia Tech) – 19.41
- Mihalis Deliyiannis (Louisville) – 19.44
- Michael Eastman (Louisville) – 19.50
- Tanner Cummings (Louisville) – 19.51
Perhaps the biggest story from this event is that NC State does not have an A-finalist in this event for the first time since 2011, before Braden Holloway took over as head coach and the program’s return to prominence began. Wolfpack swimmers have won this event five of the last six years.
But let’s give credit where credit is due, and the Louisville Cardinals more than got the job done today, accounting for half of the top eight spots. They were led by sophomore Haridi Sameh, last year’s runner-up, who blasted a lifetime best to put up the fastest overall time this morning with a 19.14. Mihalis Deliyiannis will also return to the A-final after qualifying 6th with a 9.44. Only 0.05s separated 7th from 11th, and Cardinals Michael Eastman (19.50) and Tanner Cummings (19.51) made the cut. That’s a big swim for Eastman, who last year didn’t make it out of prelims, finishing 32nd with a time of 20.16. Cummings made the C-final last year, placing 20th.
Virgina Tech was the only other school to get two men into the A-final. Freshman Youssef Ramadan will make his first ACC championship final after qualifying 4th with a time of 19.37, and Tommy Hallock, who placed 5th last year, will return after qualifying 5th this morning with a 19.41.
UVA freshman Matt Brownstead hit a new lifetime best of 19.19 to qualify 2nd behind Sameh. Pitt’s Blaise Vera qualified 3rd with a time of 19.30. Vera finished 5th in this event in 2019 and 6th last year.
UofL with 4 in the 50 A Final.
#strong
#goCards
The ascent of both Georgia Tech & Pitt this year is impressive. Both programs could be just 1-2 years away from pushing the top tier of the ACC.
Really liking the Ramblin Wreck now. Great to see.
I think Brownstead waves buh buh bye bye to the 19 handle tonite. 18.9 not out of reach tonite. Boy’s got skills.
I think Vera may have been saving himself for tonight. Looking for something special this evening!
Someone actually went a 23.9 in the 50 Free? I could have been faster than that!
I didn’t see the swim, but based on the fact that he split 23.28 on Pitt’s 200 medley relay, he probably swam it breaststroke.
Yep! Braden is right, watching it live he swam breast
LOLOL could you do it breaststroke though?
23.9 flat start in the middle of freestyle waves, looks good for 100 breasts tomorrow with the top seeds being within .05 of each other
That Louisville sprint group!
The top 4 teams are tight so far! No Lane Stone for VT is huge.
Three swims for Pittsburgh tonight. Huge improvement over the Women’s Meet. When will the Athletic Director do her job and hire someone who can coach???????
The men’s team had a great prelims, they’re developing their athletes very well. The success of the men’s team will draw in higher level women’s recruits, which is important for the women’s team since women are traditionally much harder to develop in college.
My guess is that as a bama guy you aren’t fond of Hargis’ auburn-ties
Hang on, a week ago you thought “Johnny Hargis is god and will save Auburn when he returns” ??
So, NCState doesn’t have a single Up in 50 free… well that’s not gonna happen again for many a year.
Yeah seeing that article with Hayes, then David Curtiss and all the other coming in already solidly in the B final of this years meet, next year might see as many as 4 or 5 NCSU A finalists in the 50 with Korstanje coming back.
4 or 5? Who? Izzo didn’t perform as well this morning. He’s been 19.3 or 19.2 and only went 19.6
DeSorbo and Guntoro were heading the sprint group at NC State for a while. They most likely ran a new program this year with those two gone.
Korstanje, Izzo, Hayes, Curtiss, Hoover
Izzo just went slower. Hoover is probably going with 200 IM.