AUSTIN, Texas- The NC State men’s swimming and diving team showed its strength and depth on the first day of competition at the Arena Pro Swim Series, as five swimmers met the US Olympic Trial time standard in four events on Friday.
Sponsored by USA Swimming inside the Lee & Joe Jamail Swimming Center on the University of Texas’ campus, the meet gives the select swimmers competing a chance to race in a long course pool to prepare for the 2016 Olympic Games qualification process that is rapidly approaching.
Even though all five swimmers have previously bettered the US Olympic Trial standards in their respective events, all managed to further solidify their berth to attempt to qualify for the Games.
While the US Olympic Trials are set for June, the qualification process in several countries will begin in April as several swimmers on NC State’s roster have the potential to represent their home countries in Rio de Janeiro.
The Wolfpack had several others post national cuts in the four events contested on Friday, which gives those swimmers berths into various national level events that are sponsored by USA Swimming.
DeSorbo’s Comments
“It was a great day for our guys. The guys had a lot of energy on the pool deck, and raced very well coming out of our winter training camp. We had a lot of guys made it back into the finals session tonight and they performed well,” said associate head coach Todd DeSorbo.
“We’re pretty pleased with how everyone swam today, as they’re getting some great racing experience in the long course format which is a positive with the Olympic Trials coming up. This meet is one last opportunity for that long course training prior to the Olympic Trial stage.”
Freestyle
Sprint specialists Simonas Bilis and Ryan Held qualified for the ‘B’ final in the 100m freestyle. Bilis posted a time of 50.14 while Held stopped the clock at 50.24. Both performances met the US Olympic Trial time standard.
Bilis managed to cut almost another second off of his prelims time to win the ‘B’ final with time of 49.23. Finishing ninth in the overall standings, he was the only swimmer in the heat to swim under 50 seconds.
Anton Ipsen represented the Pack in the 400m free, as he recorded a time of 3:53.50 to clinch the top seed in the ‘B’ final. In the finals session, he finished 13th of 95 swimmers after stopping the clock at 3:53.91.
Breaststroke
Freshman Patrik Schwarzenach also met the US OlympicTrial time standard in the 200m breaststroke in Friday’s prelim session, as he posted a mark of 2:18.29 to qualify as the top seed the ‘C’ finals heat.
In the finals session, Schwarzenbach managed to finish 19th out of a field of 78 competitors in the overall standings with a time of 2:18.41.
Butterfly
In the 100m butterfly, Soren Dahl earned the top spot in the ‘C’ final of the event after tabbing a US Olympic Trial standard time of 54.32. He proceeded to finish 16th of 102 swimmers in the event with a mark of 54.59.
Up Next
The Pack will continue competition at the Arena Pro Swim Series in Texas. Saturday’s prelims are set for a 10 a.m. ET start, while finals will begin at 6 p.m. ET.
Swimming news courtesy of NC State Swimming & Diving.