Youssef Ramadan Improves NCAA Season-Best 100 Fly Time With 44.42 at Hokie Invite

VIRGINIA TECH INVITE – Day 2

• February 3-5, 2023
• Christiansburg Aquatic Center, Christiansburg, VA
• SCY
• Championship format
• Friday Final Results
• Results also on Meet Mobile as “Virginia Tech Invitational”
• originally published Feb 4th

Youssef Ramadan already had the fastest time among NCAA swimmers this season with his 44.76 from just a few weeks ago, when the Hokies took on the Penn State Nittany Lions. He’s now put more ground between himself and the next-fastest man, Tennessee’s Jordan Crooks (44.79), with a super-fast 44.42 tonight at the Hokies’ home pre-ACC invitational. Barring any other fast swims from this weekend, only four men have been under 45.0 so far this season.

Ramadan’s time tonight was also faster than the otherworldly 44.67 that Thomas Heilman, a 15 year-old club swimmer, put up at the Speedo Winter Junior Championships in December.

Fellow Hokie Carles Coll Marti also put up a time worthy national notice in the 100 breast, where he went 51.50 for a pool record and the 2nd-fastest time in Virginia Tech history. With intrastate rival Noah Nichols of UVA having gone 51.44 around the same point in time tonight, Coll Marti now sit at #5 nationally this season. It will be intersesting to see if Coll Marti opts for the 100 breast over the 200 free this year at NCAAs. Last year he swam the 200 free and ended up 35th in prelims, while he finished 4th in both the 200 IM and the 200 breast.

Luis Dominguez added a third pool record to the tally with a 1:34.87 in the 200 free. Ramadan also swam that event, taking 2nd in 1:35.47, just off his lifetime best of 1:35.40.

On the women’s side, the Hokies 200 medley relay team earned a pool record with a 1:37.82. Emma Atkinson led off that relay, then swam a 52.19 in the 100 back to pick up a solo pool record as well. Atkinson, who led the Hokie women with 19 points at last year’s NCAAs, owns a lifetime best of 51.44 from the 2021 NCAA Championships.

Other Results

• The Hokie men started off the day with a 1:25.29 in the 200 medley relay, including a 20.25 fly split from Ramadan and a 18.98 anchor from Coll Marti.
• NCAA qualifier Keith Myburgh won the 400 IM with a season-best time of 3:48.85.
• Hokie Forest Webb won the 100 back in 47.06, just a few tenths of his team-best season-leading time of 46.82.
• Chase Travis moved past Brooke Zettel for the top 400 IM of the season among Hokie women, winning in 4:20.12.
• The Hokie women won another three swimming events: Karissa Franz took the 100 fly in 53.32, Carmen Weiler Sastre won the 200 free in 1:46.95, and Charlotte Rigg added another win a 1:02.97 in the 100 breast.

The Virginia Tech Invite concludes tomorrow with the traditional championship Day 3 lineup.