Cody Bybee Is Back With a Vengeance After Missing the 2019 Post-Season (Video)

2019 NC STATE/GAC INVITE

• Thursday, November 21 – Saturday, November 23, 2019
• Greensboro Aquatic Center – Greensboro, NC
• Prelims 9:30 AM / Finals 5:30 PM (U.S. Eastern Time)
• Short course yards (SCY) format
• Live results
• Results also on Meet Mobile as “NC State GAC Invitational”
• Full Day 2 Results

Reported by Robert Gibbs.

Friday, 11/22/2019

MEN’S 100 FLY – FINALS

• 2020 NCAA “A” Cut – 45.05
• 2020 NCAA “B” Cut – 47.43
• 2019 NCAA Invited Time – 45.90

1. Cody Bybee, Arizona State, 45.99
2. Nyls Korstanje, NC State, 46.08
3. Coleman Stewart, NC State, 46.40

Cody Bybee outsplit Nyls Korstanje just enough on the second 50 to earn the win with a 45.99, becoming one of just a handful of men to go under 46 so far this season. Korstanje took 2nd in 46.08, with NC State teammate Coleman Stewart nabbing 3rd in 46.40.

None of those times were under last year’s NCAA invite time, but Korstanje and Stewart have punched their tickets with their times in the 50 free and 100 back (leadoff) yesterday.

That’s the second new personal record in this event today for Bybee, who will be swimming the 200 free in just a few minutes, as will Stewart.

MEN’S 800 FREESTYLE RELAY – TIMED FINALS

• 2020 NCAA Invite Time – 6:17.18
• 2020 NCAA Provisional Time – 6:21.85

1. NC State, 6:19.32
2. Arizona State, 6:19.69
3. Arizona State (B), 6:26.22

Just like on the women’s side, this 800 yard race came down to the final strokes, but this time the Wolfpack came out on the top.

Cody Bybee put the Sun Devils in the lead early on with a 1:33.87 leadoff leg, faster than the winning time in the individual race tonight, while Stewart led off in 1:34.50 for the Wolfpack. Eric Knowles (1:34.27), Hunter Tapp (1:35.54) and Noah Hensley (1:35.01) pulled ahead, and then held on to the lead, as NC State won in 6:19.32.

NC State is essentially rebuilding this relay from scratch this year after graduating three of the four legs from last year’s relay, which earned 2nd place at NCAAs.

ASU’s remaining swimmers all had splits within a few tenths of their respective NC State counterparts. Dolan split 1:34.80, a tad slower than his individual time tonight, then Liam Bresette (1:35.86) and Swift (1:35.16) handled the back half, as ASU finished in 6:19.69.

Both of those times were under the NCAA ‘Provisional’ cut.

ASU actually had two of the top three teams, with their ‘B’ relay taking 3rd in 6:26.22, highlighted by Ethan Luc‘s 1:35.70 anchor leg.

Saturday, 11/23/2019

MEN’S 100 FREE – FINALS

• 2020 NCAA “A” Cut – 41.71
• 2020 NCAA “B” Cut – 43.80
• 2019 NCAA Invited Time – 42.53

1. Nyls Korstanje, NC State, 42.67
2. Carter Swift, Arizona State, 42.81
3. Miles Williams, Duke, 43.05

Nyls Korstanje earned his second win of the meet with a 42.67 in the 100 free. Results are still rolling in from various meets, but right now, that looks like the #2 time in the nation this season, behind only the 42.44 Indian’s Bruno Blasovic just put up at the Tennessee Invite.

Carter Swift was the only other man under 43, and his mark of 42.81 is faster than the top official time in the nation heading into this round of invites (42.90 by Mizzou’s Danny Kovac).

The next three finishers were fairly bunched up, with Duke’s Miles Williams (43.05) touching just ahead of ASU’s Evan Carlson (43.13) and Cody Bybee (43.14).

MEN’S 400 FREE RELAY – TIMED FINALS

• 2020 NCAA Invite Time – 2:51.11
• 2020 NCAA Provisional Time – 2:52.46

1. Arizona State, 2:49.94
2. NC State, 2:50.50
3. Arizona State ‘B,’ 2:55.16

The Arizona State men have been on-point when it comes to relays this week, and tonight the Sun Devil quartet combined for a 2:49.94 that, as of the moment, appears to be the fastest time in the nation so far this season. Carter Swift led off in 42.69, then Evan Carlson and Cody Bybee each dropped 42.1 splits before Jack Dolan anchored in 42.95. Last season, ASU was 2:52.60 at midseason before going 2:49.67/2:50.47 at NCAAs to take 8th in this event.

As we mentioned yesterday, NC State has a lot of rebuilding to do after losing quite a few legs due to graduation, but if tonight’s results are any indication, that rebuild is definitely on the right track. Nyls Korstanje (42.45) and Coleman Stewart (42.61) are pretty much the two givens on this relay, but coming into this season, it wasn’t clear who the other two legs would be.

Still, they brought in freshmen class rich in the sprint freestyles, and freshman Hunter Tapp split 42.61 tonight, right in line with his lifetime best of 43.16 from high school. Additionally, we’ve seen NC State employ a “next man up” approach over the past few years, and veteran Noah Hensley is another example of that, splitting 42.84 despite having not gotten much experience on NC State’s ‘A’ relays over the past few years.

Arizona State’s ‘B’ relay edged Wisconsin for 3rd, 2:55.16 to 2:55.18, led by Ethan Luc‘s 43.15 split.

FINAL SCORES

Women 

1. NC State – 1875.5
2. Auburn – 1703
3. Duke – 1497.5
4. Arizona State – 1378
5. Wisconsin – 1190
6. Louisville (diving) – 296

Men

1. NC State – 2075
2. Arizona State – 1827
3. Wisconsin – 1302
4. Auburn – 1257
5. Duke – 1197
6. Louisville (diving) – 290
7. George Washington – 41