ASU vs. NC State + FSU vs. GA Tech + Badger Tri Meet

COLLEGE SWIMMING ROUNDUP

🏊‍♀️ SWIMS OF THE WEEK 🏊🏽‍♂️

Clash of Titans - ASU vs NC State

Fastest meet of the week this week was a clash in Tempe, AZ between ASU and NC State. This wasn’t a particularly close meet, as ASU took the men’s meet 187-114 and NC State took the women’s meet 170-131, but nationally relevant swims happened all over the place.

Top performances of the meet came in the backstrokes. In the men’s 100, NC State’s 2021 champ Kacper Stokowski went the first sub-45 of the season with a 44.48. That’s the top time in the country by over a second. Later on in the meet, he was part of an outstanding 200 back field as world champ Hubert Kos passed up NC State redshirt freshman JT Ewing on the last 25 1:40.11-1:40.21 while Stokowski finished third in 1:40.67 marking the 2-3-4 times in the country this year. On the women’s side, NC State’s Katharine Berkoff went #2 times in the country in the 50 (23.54) and 100 (50.83) backs. She’d also take first in the 50-100 frees in 22.34/48.24.

Men’s 200 medley relay was also a standout race. ASU blasted a 1:22.76 with their typical Dolan (21.05)/Marchand (23.29)/Kharun (19.55) front ¾ and Cam Peel (18.78) holding down anchor duties with Jonny Kulow at Pan Ams. NC State broke the NCAA record last year but is replacing ¾ of that relay and looks like they might be trying out some new combinations. They led off with 2022 200 fly champ Aiden Hayes (21.11), nominal 100-200 freestyler Sam Hoover took breaststroke duties - he looked a little tight but popped a 23.37. Stokowski took the fly leg - it was pretty clear he hasn’t swam that race at full speed much as he had to half stroke into the wall but managed a 19.82 anyway, while another redshirt freshman Quintin McCarty went an 18.97 anchor for a final time 1:23.27. I’d look out for that relay as they figure out their timing.

Other standout swims:

• ASU’s Ieva Maluka went solid 1:46s in the 200 free last year, including in a somewhat disappointing PAC-12s. This year she’s improved every splash she’s made in the event, culminating with a big 1:45.31 here. She also went a season best 1:57.48 in the 200 IM to take second behind Grace Sheble (1:57.33).

• NC State’s distance gang was in full swing in the 1000 taking the top four spots with Ross Dant (8:51.33, #1 in the nation), Lance Norris (8:56.43 PR), Owen Lloyd (8:58.59) and freshman Sam Flack (9:00.53 PR). The 500 also featured an NC State PR as sophomore IMer Kyle Ponsler hit a 4:17.65 for a 5-second best time to finish second behind Leon Marchand (4:14.34).

• Jack Dolan went what were the top times in the nation (more on that later) in the sprints - 19.04/41.86.

• 200 flys were highlights for the Sun Devils - freshman Ilya Kharun basically repeated his season best with a 1:40.76 while Lindsay Looney his hers with a 1:55.27.

• To close out the meet, both teams put up high ranking 400 free relays. In the women’s race, ASU got the better of NC State with Erin Milligan (48.75)/Molly Batchelor (48.90)/Looney (49.21)/Maluka (49.37) 3:16.23 over the Wolfpack’s Annabel Crush (49.57)/Miriam Sheehan (48.92)/Tyler Driscoll (49.05)/Madeline Herbert (49.67) totaling 3:17.21. The men’s side featured #1 and #2 relays with ASU’s 2:47.53 (Dolan 41.86/Patrick Sammon 42.26/Kharun 41.93/Marchand 41.48) and NCS’s 2:49.34 (Noah Henderson 42.99/Hoover 42.01/Stokowski 41.53/McCarty 42.81).

Badger Tri Meet Sweep

Some Big Ten action, with PAC-12 flavor as Michigan and Arizona traveled to Wisconin for a tri meet. Wisconsin got a big sweep on both sides. Amazingly, the men beat Michigan for the first time since the 1980-81 season.

On the women’s side, Olympian Phoebe Bacon and freshman Hailey Tierney had the best swims, with Bacon taking her specialty 200 back in 1:54.44, adding wins in the 100 fly (53.10), 100 back (53.37) and 200 IM (2:00.47), while Tierney took the 50 free (22.45), took third in the 100 free (49.90) and added a 22.08 200 medley relay anchor.

Dominik Torok was the star for the Badger’s on the men’s side. He swept the IMs (1:46.99/3:50.56) and also won the 200 breast (1:57.98) and 200 fly (1:45.50).

Ralph Daleiden had a few nationally relevant highlight swims for Arizona, winning the 100-200 free in 43.05 (a pool record)/1:35.92. He also popped a 42.17 split anchoring the Wildcats’ winning 400 medley relay.

GLIAC Rivalry Renewed + UIndy Challenges Purdue

Back before the D2 GLVC conference had a swim meet, UIndy and GVSU were two of the three big dogs (with Wayne State) in the GLIAC, one of the leading D2 swim conferences. They meet for duals regularly still and can be depended on for some of the fastest swimming in the division. This year the men’s meet came down to the last couple events with the Greyhounds taking a 152-148 win over the Lakers, while GVSU took a big women’s win over reigning NCAA runners-up UIndy 175-124.

Lucy Hedley was a big reason for the Laker win - she swept the sprint frees 23.62/50.99/1:51.18, all top 3 in the country D2 times.

The men’s side featured a rematch of one of the most exciting races of the 2023 NCAA meet. In the mile, Eric Hieber passed up Cedric Buessing on the final 25 to take his first national title. The two matched up in the 1000 and 500 here, with Buessing taking both, 9:21.53-9:27.95 in the 1000 and a closer 4:32.80-4:33.20 in the 500.

The night before UIndy took on D1 Big Ten team Purdue with some good swims on both sides. UIndy’s Celina Schmidt and Pudue’s Maggie Love had the race of the meet in the women’s 200 breast with Love coming back on that last 25 to tie Schmidt 2:15.96 - a PR for Love.

On the men’s side, Purdue’s Brady Samuels went 43.87 100 free/48.28 100 back, while the 200 IM featured a Buessing brother showdown as older brother Cedric brough his free home in 25.31 to pass up freshman Silas 1:50.63-1:50.70.

Other Elite Swims

• Notre Dame’s Chris Guiliano still doing his thing. This weekend we got 19.35/41.63/1:33.75 sprints against Pitt and Penn St. That’s #3, #1, and #2 in the nation respectively. He also anchored ND’s 400 medley relay in 41.00 and 200 medley relay in 18.58.

• Pitt’s got a couple keepers for this season too. Marcin Goraj went 1:34.76 2 free, 1:40.76 2 back, and 47,41 1 fly; Max Matteazzi went 54.31/1:56.41 breast and 1:45.64/3:47.87 IMs; Claire Jansen went 53.54/1:54.82 backs, and Sophie Yendell went 22.63 50 free and 52.96 100 fly.

• A couple eye-popping times from mid-major women as Ball State’s Payton Kelly went a 22.64 50 free and Cal Baptist’s Tania Brooks went a 48.27 100.

• Jacob Hamlin was probably the biggest recruit in D2 this past year - coming out of HS a 1:36/4:22 freestyler. He popped 1:40.01/4:27.29 against Rollins.

• Colorado Mesa star Ben Sampson did a “fun” thing against Colorado School of Mines. He took on a lactate set-ish lineup of (all in a row), 50 free, 200 IM, 100 fly, 100 free, 100 back, 500 free, 100 breast. At altitude. The backstroker ended up finishing the day with a 58.96 in the breast, so I’d say he held it together pretty well. Oh, and he opened up the meet with a 48.93 400 medley relay leadoff. Give that man the day off Sunday…

🏊🏼 RELAY OF THE WEEK 🏊‍♀️

Findlay 200 Medley Relays

#4 and #5 in the nation for the women and men respectively. This is a team that runs a bit under the radar nationally but has put up some quick times the past few years.

Women: 1:44.58

• Sasha Melnyk 27.01

• Katie Susi 29.15

• Emily Myers-Bentley 24.75

• Sofia Montes 23.67

Men: 1:29.88

• Tim Stollings 22.56

• Luca Chiandussi 24.80

• Camilo Marrugo 21.67

• Dags Bregis 21.78

🏊🏽‍♂️ MEET OF THE WEEK 🏊🏼

FSU at Georgia Tech

This one was a barn burner from Thursday night. The men’s side featured a winner take all last event 400 free relay where FSU went a 2:54.59 third fastest time in the nation (Peter Varjasi 43.29/Tobias Shulrath 44.29/Gustav Olsson 44.24/Yordan Yanchev 42.86) to beat out GT for the meet win 152-149. The women’s meet wasn’t as much a nail-biter as GT took a 160-140 win, but the highlight of the meet was the sheer number of races that came down to the touch. Check this out:

Men’s 200 medley relay: FSU 1:25.91 over GT 1:25.96

Women’s 200 free: GT’s Zora Ripkova 1:47.24 over FSU’s Maysa Ratiu 1:47.41 (both PRs)

Men’s 200 free: FSU’s Yordan Yanchev 1:34.61 over GT’s Batar Unlu 1:34.84

Women’s 100 back: GT’s Vivian Rothwell PR 54.52 over FSU’s Sarah Evans 54.58 and GT’s Jillian Ferrari 54.77

Men’s 100 back: FSU’s Mason Herbet 46.78 over GT’s Berke Saka 46.84

Women’s 100 breast: FSU’s Maddy Huggin 59.91 over GT’s Sabyne Brisson 1:00.18 (both PRs)

Women’s 200 fly: GT’s McKenzie Campbell 1:56.87 over FSU teammates Sophie Freeman 1:57.01 and Edith Jernstedt 1:57.18

Men’s 200 fly: GT’s Antonio Romero 1:46.17 over FSU’s Jaka Pusnik 1:46.23

Women’s 50 free: FSU’s Gloria Muzito 22.85 over GT’s Anna Hadjiloizou 22.92

Women’s 100 free: GT’s Ripkova 49.79 (PR) over FSU’s Gloria Muzito 49.81

100 fly: FSU teammates Jenny Halden 52.33, Sophie Freeman 53.26, and Jernstedt 53.46

Whew.

In addition to her PR 59.91 100 breast (first time under a minute), FSU’s Maddy Huggins also went a half second PR in the 200 breast (2:08.94) - that’s 4th in the country in the 100 and 2nd in the 200. Notably on the men’s side, GT junior Berke Saka went 1:43.08 200 back and 1:45.45 200 IM (splitting impressive splits for a backstroker of 23.73/27.20/29.60/24.92).

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