ACC Video Interviews: Louisville’s Thomas Dhalia Sweeps Breaststroke Events

SwimSwam’s Max Mitchell was at the ACC Championships in Atlanta over the weekend and had the opportunity to catch up with the 100 and 200 breaststroke champion from Louisville, Thomas Dhalia.

From SwimSwam’s ACC Day 4 Final Recap:

200 BREASTSTROKE

• 2014 ACC Champion – Zach Stephens, ND, 1:53.34
• NCAA “A” Standard – 1:53.68
• ACC Record – 1:53.13 – Rob Holderness, Florida State, 2011

Out in a 54.67 was Thomas Dahlia of Louisville in a tight field, but he turned on the jets on the back half, blasting a 1:53.51 for an A cut. He lopped off over a second from his morning swim, and led a Cardinal sweep. 2nd and 3rd for Louisville were Addison Bray (1:54.60) and freshman Carlos Claverie (1:54.80), followed by Duke sophomore Peter Kropp (1:55.05) in 3rd. No Wolfpack swimmers made it into this final.

SCORE UPDATE:With that huge Cardinal sweep, Louisville now sits in 2nd place (1090) behind NC State (1215) and ahead of defending ACC champions VT (1036). UNC is in 4th with 966 points.

From SwimSwam’s ACC Day 3 Final Recap:

100 BREASTSTROKE

• 2014 ACC Champion – Zach Stephens, ND – 52.59
• NCAA “A” Standard – 52.29
• ACC Record – 52.02 – Peter Kropp, Duke, 2014

Duke’s Peter Kropp went out hard in the first half of the race but did not have enough to hold off the 200 breaststroke specialist from Louisville, Thomas Dhalia. Dhalia won with a final time of 52.36, just ahead of Kropp. Kropp touched in second but his time will not count due to a disqualification for an extra dolphin kick. Derek Hren moved up to second with his time of 53.1o, and Louisville’s Addison Bray finished third with a 53.16.

Jason Coombs from Florida State finished fourth with his time of 53.17, missing the podium by .01 seconds. Brandon Fiala was fifth at 53.23, Kurt Wohlrab finished sixth at 53.24, and Yannick Kaeser from UVA was seventh with a 53.29.

Virginia Tech’s Harrison Cefalo won the B final with his time of 53.78.