Early High School Graduate Daniel Diehl Makes Unexpected NC State Debut vs. UVA, UNC

Virginia vs. NC State vs. UNC

• Jan. 18-20, 2024
• Aquatic and Fitness Center
  • Charlottesville, Virginia
• SCY (25 yards)
• Results on MeetMobile: “UVA vs. NCST vs. UNC”

Daniel Diehl has arrived for NC State — one semester earlier than expected, but right on time for the Wolfpack men ahead of championship season this spring.

The 18-year-old Olympic contender made his unexpected collegiate debut for NC State on Friday against ACC foes Virginia and North Carolina, claiming the 200-yard backstroke title with a winning time of 1:42.64 that was more than three seconds ahead of the field. Wolfpack teammate JT Ewing placed 2nd in 1:45.90. Diehl now ranks 47th in the NCAA this season while Ewing’s season-best 1:40.21 ranks 14th.

Last week, news broke that Diehl had graduated from Allegany High School (Md.) early and enrolled at NC State for the spring semester. But he was expected to focus on long-course meter (LCM) training with the U.S. Olympic Trials this summer instead of compete for the Wolfpack in short-course yards (SCY) this spring.

Diehl has been as fast as 1:39.62 in the 200 back in December of 2022, just a couple seconds away from Ryan Murphy‘s U.S. boys’ 17-18 national age group (NAG) record of 1:37.35 from the 2014 NCAA Championships. Cal senior Destin Lasco is the favorite to pull off a three-peat in the 200 back at NCAAs this spring after coming just .14 seconds shy of Murphy’s NCAA record (1:35.73) last year, but Diehl should be contending for national titles before too long.

The NC State men captured their second consecutive ACC crown last year before going on to place 5th at NCAAs with 373.5 points behind Indiana (379), Texas (384), Arizona State (430) and Cal (482). Diehl’s early arrival, along with the emergence of redshirt freshman Quintin McCarty (18.80/41.90 freestyles), could be enough to boost the Wolfpack into the top three this time around.

Last summer, Diehl won gold medals as part of three American relays (men’s 400 free, men’s 800 free, and men’s 400 free) at the World Junior Championships, as well as silver in the 200 back and 200 IM. In 2022, when he was 16, he won four gold medals at the Junior Pan Pacific Championships.

At the recent US Open Swimming Championships, Diehl’s best finishes were 6th place in the 100 back (54.57) and the 200 IM (1:59.79), though none of those were best times.

During the Olympic Trials qualifying period, which began November 30, 2022, Diehl is the third-fastest American in the 200-meter back (1:56.04) behind Lasco (1:55.63) and Murphy (1:54.83).