2025 ACC Swimming & Diving Championships
- Dates: Tuesday, February 18–Saturday, February 22
- Location: Greensboro Aquatic Center, Greensboro, NC
- Defending champions: UVA women (5x); NC State men (3x)
- Fan Guide
- Live Results
- Live Video: ACC NX
- Psych Sheets
- Championship Central
The Cal men have reloaded with the addition of yet another Olympian for the postseason, as former LSU star Brooks Curry is entered as a fifth-year senior for the Bears at next week’s ACC Championships.
Curry, who swam four years for LSU and last competed collegiately at the 2023 NCAA Championships, has been training in Berkeley since the summer of 2023, and although he appeared in the transfer portal earlier this season (with one year of eligibility remaining), was reportedly not planning on competing for Cal, at least in 2024-25.
However, despite not currently being listed on the Cal roster, Curry’s appearance on the ACC psych sheets tell us he’ll be competing for the Bears next week at the conference meet and ultimately the NCAA Championships next month (provided he qualifies).
The 24-year-old is entered with no time in the men’s 50, 100 and 200 free. His best times would seed him 1st in the 50 free (18.56), 2nd in the 100 free (40.84) and 1st in the 200 free (1:31.30). The only swimmer with a faster seed time than Curry’s PB in the 100 free is teammate Jack Alexy (40.82).
Curry has not raced in a sanctioned meet since the 2024 Olympics in Paris, where he split 1:45.96 on the U.S. men’s 4×200 free relay in the prelims before the team earned silver in the final.
At the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, Curry won gold as a member of the U.S. men’s 4×100 free relay, and he also won a world title in 2022 on that relay.
During his career at LSU, Curry only finished outside the top eight once across nine individual events at three NCAA Championship meets.
He first broke out to win the 2020 SEC title in the 100 free as a freshman, and then at his debut NCAAs the following season, placed 6th in the 200 free, 7th in the 100 free and 10th in the 50 free.
During his junior year, he won the SEC title in the 100 free, was the runner-up in both the 50 and 200 free, and then at the 2022 NCAAs, won national titles in the 50 and 100 free while placing 6th in the 200 free.
In 2023, he was 4th in the 50 free, 5th in the 100 free and 4th in the 200 free as a senior at NCAAs.
The addition of Curry comes after the Cal men added Belgian Olympian Lucas Henveaux and French Olympian Mewen Tomac to their roster for the second semester in January.
NOTABLE ENTRIES
- Virginia’s Gretchen Walsh has pre-entered in five events for ACCs, so she’ll have to drop two from her lineup once the meet rolls around. She’s entered in the three events she won last year at both ACCs and NCAAs, the 50 free, 100 free and 100 fly, and also holds entries in the 100 and 200 back.
- Claire Curzan has the exact same entry list as Walsh: 50 free, 100 free, 100 back, 200 back, 100 fly.
- Alex Walsh holds six entries coming into the meet, so it’s hard to gauge what she’ll end up swimming. The defending champion in the 200 breast, 200 fly and 200 IM, Walsh has entered in those events to go along with the 200 free, 100 breast and 100 fly.
- Virginia freshman Katie Grimes has six entries: 200, 500 and 1650 free, 200 back, 200 fly and 400 IM. Based on what she’s raced so far this semester, Grimes will likely take on the 500 free, 400 IM and one of the stroke 200s at NCAAs, but what she races at ACCs remains to be seen.
- Stanford’s Torri Huske has a hybrid of the two Walsh sister’s entries. She’s got four of the same events as Gretchen with the 50 free, 100 free, 100 back and 100 fly, and is also entered in the 200 IM.
- Cal’s Destin Lasco has pre-entered in five events—his normal NCAA lineup of 100 back, 200 back and 200 IM, and he’s also in the 100 and 200 free.
- His teammate Gabriel Jett has six events in his lineup one week out: 200 and 500 free, 100 and 200 back, 200 fly and 200 IM.
Men’s 100 fly Greensboro pool record was 43.93 which isn’t accurate because Thomas Heilman set a pool record at Winter Juniors with 43.86 😱
Nevermind Ilya Kharun got it by 0.01 of a second but dang next Kristof Milak almost got it, he probably had it as a goal.
Isn’t he a professional swimmer? I thought once you go pro, you don’t come back lmao
Remember last year? Make sure we have good officials!
Why predict Grimes for a stroke 200 at NCAAs? 1650 seems more likely to me.
This is not an attack on Curry or Cal’s decision to swim him in ACC’s but I am truly confused… isnt there a 5 year rule or is that all out of the window now?
There are some exceptions to the 5 year rule, like Olympic redshirts and COVID.
Curry competed in the COVID year so he gets the extra season of eligibility and an extra year in which to use it.
Dave Durden’s lack of coaching ability never ceases to amaze me.
Literally every single B tier swimmer flopped last year at NCs (except auraless Keaton), so why not just bring in multiple professional swimmers on a whim’s notice with A cuts in multiple events
And then the audacity to try to usurp credit when a swimmer drops a few tenths in 4 years of training is just wild
Shameless from Durden and cal, will be rooting for IU and Texas at the big dance
And of course my Wolfpack to finish in the 4-6 range🔥
Most B tier swimmers don’t swim their best at NCAAs because they have to go all in just to make NCAAs. Very few at NCAAs actually go best times regardless of what tier you’re in.
I’m not criticizing any coach who is picking up swimmers just for the championship meets only, especially because that seems to be the game you have to play now, but this system sucks. It’s feels like half the time you look at SwimSwam lately, there is an article about someone joining a team for the one semester so the team can have a boost at NCAAs. I’ve really got no problem with NIL or the transfer portal for someone who just isn’t vibing in their current situation, but the current system that seems to encourage rent a swimmers seems gross.
And to be clear, I’m also not criticizing swimmers who take advantage of a business decision. I just hate the system that seems to encourage it.
based
Dave Marsh if adding mercenary swimmers who he didn’t train to the roster to win championship meets was illegal.