2019 ACC Men’s Championships: Day 2 Prelims Live Recap

2019 ACC MEN’S CHAMPIONSHIPS

• When: Wednesday, February 27th to Saturday, March 2nd | Prelims 10:00am | Finals 6:00pm
• Where: Greensboro Aquatics Center, Greensboro, NC (Eastern Time Zone)
• Defending Champion: NC State Wolfpack (results)
• Live Results: here
• Streaming: WatchESPN (subscription required)
• Psych Sheet
• Championship Central

The first full day of swimming at the 2019 ACC’s Men’s Swimming & Diving Championships gets underway this morning in Greensboro, NC. This morning will feature prelims of the 500 free, 200 IM, and 50 free.

Last year’s 500 free champion, NC State’s Anton Ipsen, was a senior last year, so he’s not back to defend his title, but last year’s 2nd and 3rd place finishers, Notre Dame’s Zach Yeadon and Louisville’s Marcelo Acosta, do return. While this hasn’t been a traditional strength for the Wolfpack, it’s a discipline in which they’ve steadily developing for a few years now, and the addition of former UVA head coach Mark Bernardino only seems to have helped: the NC State women swept the top four places in this event last week.

The 200 IM will feature the defending champion, NC State senior Andreas Vazaois, as well as 2nd place finisher Norbert Szabo of Virginia Tech and 3rd place finisher Daniel Sos of Louisville. Georgia Tech’s Caio Pumputis tops the psych sheet, however, after going 1:42.42 earlier in the season.

Like Ipsen, Ryan Held is out of eligibility, but two NC State swimmers still sit at the top of the 50 free seeds. Freshman Nyls Korstanje has gone a long way toward blunting the impact of losing Held, and has already been 19.29 this season. Justin Ress, last year’s runner-up, sits 2nd on the psych sheet with a 19.38 and sports a lifetime best of 18.96, from last year’s ACC prelims.

500 Free Prelims

• Meet Record – Matt McLean, Virginia, 2010 – 4:10.00
• ACC Record – Anton Ipsen, NC State, 2018 – 4:09.13
• Estimated NCAA Invite Time – 4:15.44

1. Eric Knowles (NC State) – 4:13.79
2. Brendan Casey (UVA) – 4:14.30
3. Marcelo Acosta (Louisville) – 4:14.96
4. Lane Stone (VT) – 4:16.26
5. Zach Yeadon (Notre Dame) – 4:16.75
6. Gil Kiesler (NC State) – 4:16.92
7. John McIntyre (NC State) – 4:17.73
8. Sam Magnan (UVA) – 4:17.83

NC State’s Eric Knowles put up the fastest time this morning with a 4:13.79 in the penultimate heat. That’s almost a two-second personal best for the Wolfpack sophomore, whose previous best was a 4:15.46 from last year’s ACCs championships. NC State got a total of three men into the top eight, with Gil Kiesler (4:16.92) and John McIntyre (4:17.73) putting up the 6th and 7th-fastest times, respectively. It was nearly four up for the Wolfpack, as Daniel Erlenmeyer ended up 9th, missing out on the A-final by about a quarter a second, with a time of 4:18.06. Knowles, Erlenmeyer and Kiesler were all in the A-final last year.

Virginia got two up, with Brendan Casey leading the final heat from to start finish, touching with a 4:14.30, good for 2nd-fastest time of the morning. He’ll be joined by teammate Sam Magan, who was the last man in, with a time of 4:17.83.

The top two seeds heading into today, Notre Dame’s Zach Yeadon and Louisville’s Marcelo Acosta, will also be in tonight’s A-final. Acosta put up the 3rd-fastest time of the morning with a 4:14.96, while Yeadon was 4:16.75. Acosta’s teammate Zach Harting finished 10th in prelims for the 2nd year in a row; he went 4:18.22 this morning after going 4:18.52 last year. Virginia Tech’s Lane Stone, who last night had the fastest split in the 800 free relay, went 4:16.26 this morning, the 4th-fastest time.

200 IM Prelims

• Meet Record – Andreas Vazaois, NC State, 2018 – 1:41.25
• ACC Record – Anton Ipsen, NC State, 2018 – 1:39.98
• Estimated NCAA Invite Time – 1:43.88

1. Andreas Vazaois (NC State) – 1:42.49
2. Caio Pumputis (Georgia Tech) – 1:43.34
3. Ted Schubert (UVA) – 1:43.49
4. Daniel Sos (Louisville) – 1:43.74
5. Samuel Tornqvist (VT) – 1:43.75
6. Norbert Szabo (VT) – 1:43.85
7. Bryce Keblish (UVA) – 1:43.98
8. Zach Fong (UVA) – 1:44.34

After posting the fastest time this morning with a 1:42.49, NC State senior Andreas Vazaois will be in lane 4 tonight as he defends his title. He’ll be swimming right next to Georgia Tech’s Caio Pumputis, who was 1:43.34 this morning, but did put up a 1:42.42 earlier this year. Vazaois is one of a handful of men to ever break the 1:40 mark, but presumably is not fully tapered here, so it could be a good battle tonight between those two.

Virginia got three men into the top eight: Ted Schubert (1:43.49), Bryce Keblish (1:43.98), and Zach Fong (1:44.34). That should be a big boost for them, as it’s likely to be a close race between the Cavaliers and the Cardinals for 2nd place this week.

The Cavaliers’ in-state rivals, the Virginia Tech Hokies, put up two, with Samuel Tornqvist (1:43.75) and Norbert Szabo (1:43.85) taking the #5 and #6 seeds. Louisville’s Daniel Sos rounds out the A-final after going 1:43.74 in the final heat.

50 Free Prelims

• Meet Record – Ryan Held, NC State, 2017 – 18.68
• ACC Record – Ryan Held, NC State, 2017 – 18.56
• Estimated NCAA Invite Time –19.35

1. Justin Ress (NC State) – 19.14
2. Will Pisani (FSU) – 19.17
3. Nyls Korstanje (NC State) – 19.31
4. Andrej Barna (Louisville) – 19.33
5. Blaise Vera (Pitt) – 19.34
6. Ian Ho (VT) – 19.50
7. Giovanni Izzo (NC State) – 19.53
8. Cobe Garcia (NC State) – 19.56

Half of the lanes in tonight’s A-final will be occupied by NC State swimmers, as Justin Ress (19.14), Nyls Korstanje (19.31), Giovanni Izzo (19.53), and Cobe Garcia (19.56), will all be repping the Wolfpack tonight.

They were the only school to put more than one man into the A-final. Three of the four other who made the top eight this morning swam in last year’s A-final, including FSU’s Will Pisani (19.17), Louisville’s Andrej Barna (19.33), and Virginia Tech’s Ian Ho (19.50). Pitt’s Blaise Vera will be the final man in the top eight, after putting up a 19.34 this morning.