NC State Men’s Swimming/Diving Has Won 4 Consecutive ACC Championships

4⃣ straight ACC Championships ✅
🥇 in 🔟 of the 1⃣3⃣ individual swimming events ✅
🥇in 4⃣ of the 5⃣ relays ✅
2⃣3⃣ podium finishes ✅
An American record in the 4⃣0⃣0⃣ free relay ✅

The 📽️ reel from an incredible final day at #ACCMSD#STATEment 🐺🐾🏆 pic.twitter.com/8JmAnyBjM7

— NC State Swim / Dive (@packswimdive) February 26, 2018

GREENSBORO, N.C. — The NC State men’s swimming & diving team closed out the ACC Men’s Swimming & Diving Championships in impressive fashion, winning gold in four of the six events on the way to capturing its fourth straight ACC Championship Saturday night inside the Greensboro Aquatic Center.

Along with winning four of the five relays, the Pack won 10 of the 13 individual swimming events, earned 23 podium finishes along with setting an American record and posting the second-fastest time in history in the 400 freestyle relay on route to winning its 28th ACC Championship in program history.

Team Scores
The Pack’s 1457 points saw them finish first, Louisivile took second with 1170.5 and Virginia rounded out the top-three with 983.5 points.

Held Named ACC’s Most Valuable Swimmer
For the second-consecutive season Ryan Held was named ACC Most Valuable Swimmer. He earned a total of seven first-place finishes as he won the 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle and 100 butterfly along with being part of the 800 freestyle, 200 freestyle, 400 freestyle and 400 medley relay teams.

400 Freestyle Relay
The team of Ryan Held, Justin Ress, Jacob Molacek and Coleman Stewart posted the second-fastest time in history, breaking the American, conference, pool, meet and school records with a time of 2:45.69 seconds. The foursome’s victory marked the sixth year in a row the Pack had won the event.

100 Freestyle
NC State earned a one-two-three sweep in the 100 freestyle; Ryan Held finished first in 41.41, Justin Ress took second in 41.86, Jacob Molacek finished third in 41.89 and Giovanni Izzo was fourth in 42.69. In the ‘B’ final Cobe Garcia took seventh in 43.58 and in the ‘C’ final Tyler Rice finished fifth in 43.62.

1650 Freestyle
Anton Ipsen made it three-out-of-three wins on the meet as he set a new school, conference and meet record of 14:31.21 seconds to take first. Eric Knowles tied for fifth with a mark of 14:54.56 seconds and Danny Erlenmeyer took 13th in 15:08.26 seconds. Gil Kiesler clocked in at 15:13.32 seconds to take 18th and Matt O’Donnell finished in a15:14.23 seconds to take 19th.

200 Butterfly
After touching the wall at 1:41.35 seconds Andreas Vazaios tied for second. He was joined in the ‘A’ final by James Bretscher who finished eighth with a time of 1:44.04 seconds.

200 Backstroke
Coleman Stewart completed his sweep in the backstroke events, posting a time of 1:39.56 seconds to take first. He was joined on the podium by Hennessey Stuart, who took third after clocking in at 1:40.82 seconds. In the ‘B’ final Noah Hensley and Jacob Johnson finished third and fourth with times of 1:42.79 seconds and 1:42.95 seconds.

200 Breaststroke
Daniel Graber won the ‘B’ final after touching the wall at 1:56.15 seconds.

Quoting the Coach
On winning the ACC Championship for the fourth year in a row
“It’s a tough task and everyone’s gunning for you; it meant a lot for those seniors,” said head coach Braden Holloway. “They all came here to help create what we’re doing and to see them go out on a high note and for four-for-four was pretty impressive, I’m happy for those guys. It’s a great achievement for the men.”

On setting an American record in the 400 freestyle relay
“We went for it and just missed it a few days ago,” said Holloway. “We went for it again and knew we had a decent shot based on the way the 100’s were going; Coleman’s been swimming hot and we went for it and I think missing the first one gave them a little extra initiative to try and get this one down. We thought we could get it done and it was just a great feeling for those guys. We’ve talked about it before but to actually do it was a pretty cool feeling.”

On Ryan Held being being back-to-back ACC Most Valuable Swimmer
“Stud, on relays and winning three event titles again was such a great accomplishment for him,” said Holloway. He’s been such a great leader for our program and for that group. There’s a couple more weeks to go and he’ll be looking to finish his career on the best note he can.”

On Anton Ipsen’s performance
“Just a huge performance,” said Holloway. “He really pressed and he needed to; if he’s going to compete for the big one at NCAA’s you need to press it and feel uncomfortable.”

Overall thoughts
“I’m really happy with the role players on our team and the depth we have,” said Holloway. “Some are freshman, some are sophomores and some are juniors; we had a transfer, Noah Hensley, who had to sit out a whole year. He came here and did wonders. There were other guys who been here before and didn’t hit it but came back and did well, I’m proud of what they were able to do. I’m proud of the staff and support group, having them here was great and they really help us do what we need done. They work hard for NC State.”

Up Next
The Wolfpack men will return to Raleigh to prepare for the NCAA Championships in March, as the team will await the final selections for the men’s and women’s championships.

Stay up to date with the latest on NC State swimming and diving:
Twitter: @packswimdive
Facebook: NC State Swimming and Diving
Instagram: @packswimdive