2021 ACC Men’s Championships: Day 3 Finals Live Recap

2021 ACC Men’s Swimming Championships

• When: Wednesday, February 24th to Saturday, February 27th Prelims 10:00 am | Finals 6:00 pm (1650 prelims Saturday at 4:00 pm)
• Where: Greensboro Aquatic Center, Greensboro, North Carolina (Eastern Time Zone)
• Defending Champion: North Carolina State University (NC State) (29x, 6th-straight) (results)
• Streaming: ACC Network
  • Wednesday
  • Thursday
  • Friday
  • Saturday
• Championship Central: Here
• Detailed Timeline: Here
• Psych Sheets: Here
• Live Results
• Friday Morning Heat Sheets

The third evening of the 2021 ACC Men’s Championships promises to be a fun, fast night, with finals of the 100 fly, 400 IM, 200 free, 100 breast, 100 back, and the 400 medley relay. This morning was a smoker of a session, with three meet records going down, and setting up some great battles tonight.

In the 100 fly, Virginia Tech freshman Youssef Ramadan, set a new meet record this morning, and he’ll square off against defending champion Nick Albiero of Louisville. UVA’s Casey Storch had the fastest time this morning in the 400 IM, and he’ll be looking to make this UVA third-straight title in the event, but he’ll face stiff competition from a field that includes Notre Dame’s Jack Hoagland, last year’s runner-up.

In the 200 free, NC State freshman Luke Miller broke the meet record this morning, while defending champion Colton Paulson of Louisville will be vying to defend his title from last year. Louisville’s Evgenii Somov took the final meet record this morning, and the Louisville senior swims tonight for a clean sweep of this event in his college career — he’s won each of the last three years. Albiero will return in the 100 back after putting up the fastest time of this morning, and look for him to be challenged by NC State’s Kacper Stokowski and Albiero’s teammate Mitchell Whyte, who was the runner-up last year, but will be on his fifth swim of the day at that point after winning a 100 fly swim-off after this morning’s session.

The evening will wrap up with timed finals of the 400 medley relay. Louisville is the defending champion, and with three of their four legs returning, on paper they seem to be the favorites to win tonight, but Georgia Tech, NC State and Virginia Tech have all been swimming well and could keep things interesting.

SCORES THROUGH DAY 2

*including all diving points

1. Virginia Tech – 487
2. Louisville – 470
3. NC State – 456
4. UNC – 372
5. Florida State – 354
6. Virginia – 335
7. Georgia Tech – 307
8. Pitt – 208
9. Miami (FL) – 207
10. Notre Dame/Duke – 203
11. (tie)
12. Boston College – 98

100 Fly – Finals

• ACC Record: 44.46 – Coleman Stewart (NC State), 2019
• Meet Record: 44.54 – Youssef Ramadan (Virginia Tech), 2021
• 2020 NCAA Invite Time: 45.97
• 2020 Champion – Nick Albiero (Louisville), 44.86

Top 3:

1. Youssef Ramadan (Virginia Tech) – 44.32
2. Nick Albiero (Louisville) – 44.67
3. Antani Ivanov (Virginia Tech) – 45.21

Where do we start? Virginia Tech freshman Youssef Ramadan went out in 20.1 en route to a 44.32 that downed his own meet record, and the conference record, and now is tied with Marius Kusch as the 5th-fastest man ever in the event. That’s the Hokies’ first ACC title in this event since Greg Mahon won in 2012.

Defending champion Nick Albiero took 2nd in 44.67, faster than he was last year, when he won in 44.86, and setting a new Louisville school record. Ramadan’s teammate Antani Ivanov took 3rd in 45.21. The top six men all improved on their prelims times. Pitt’s Blaise Vera touched just behind Ivanov with a 45.20, followed by VT’s Blake Manoff (45.50) and UNC’s Boyd Poelke (46.02. Georgie Tech’s Christian Ferraro took 7th in 46.05, with NC State’s Luke Sobolewski placing 8th in 47.04.

Further down, Louisville’s Haridi Sameh won the B-final in 45.82. UVA’s Max Edwards, who lost a swim off with Whyte for the B-final, made the most of his swim, winning the C-final with a 46.29, a new lifetime best for him.

400 IM – Finals

• ACC Record: 3:38.00 – Gal Nevo (Georgia Tech), 2009
• Meet Record: 3:38.43 – Robert Owen (Virginia Tech), 2017
• 2020 NCAA Invite Time: 3:44.36
• 2020 champion: Ted Schubert (Virginia), 3:40.01

Top 3:

1. Jack Hoagland (Notre Dame) – 3:40.99
2. Keith Myburgh (Virginia Tech) – 3:43.45
3. Erge Gezmis (NC Strate) – 3:43.47

Notre Dame sophomore Jack Hoagland won his 2nd individual event of the meet, taking the 400 IM tonight after winning the 500 free yesterday. Hoagland’s time tonight of 3:40.99 was just a tick off his 2nd-place time of 3:40.73 last year, but was plenty enough to win by nearly three and a half seconds, earning Notre Dame’s first ACC title in this event.

Virginia Tech’s Keith Myburgh earned 2nd with a lifetime best of 4:43.45, after winning the B-final last year. NC State’s Erge Gezmis round out the top three with a 4:43.47.

The field featured another four men from last year’s A-final. UVA’s Casey Storch (3:44.31) and Sean Conway (3:45.70) took 4th and 8th today and placing 3rd and 8th last year.

NC State’s Eric Knowles repeated his 6th place finish from last year with a time of 3:44.85 tonight, while Virginia Tech’s Filippo Del Maso took 7th tonight in 3:45.45 after placing 5th last year. 5th place this year went to NC State freshman Michael Moore, who touched in 3:44.44.

200 Free – Finals

• ACC Record: 1:31.32 – Andreas Vazaois (NC State), 2018
• Meet Record: 1:32.28 – Luke Miller (NC State), 2021
• 2020 NCAA Invite Time: 1:34.07
• 2020 champion: Colton Paulson (Louisville), 1:33.77

Top 3:

1. Baturalp Unlu (Georgia Tech) – 1:32.40
2. Blake Manoff (Virginia Tech) – 1:32.63
3. Luke Miller (NC State) – 1:32.93

There was no clear favorite coming into this race this week, but Georgia Tech freshman Baturalp Unlu topped the psych sheet, and he ended up touching first tonight with a time of 1:32.40. That appears to be Georgia Tech’s first-ever ACC title in the event.

Virginia Tech’s Blake Manoff, who finished 5th in the 100 fly maybe 40 minutes earlier, led for the first 150 years, but Unlu lowered the boom with a 23.35 final leg to get past Manoff and take the win. Manoff ended up 2nd in 1:32.63, over a second faster than his time from prelims. It’s worth noting that Manoff’s time of 1:32.23 leading of the 800 free relay Wednesday was faster than Miller’s time this morning, but the ACC heat sheets list Miller has having the pool and meet record.

NC State freshman Luke Miller couldn’t match his prelims time of 1:32.28, which had moved him to #3 all-time in the 17-18 age group, but his 1:32.93 was more than enough to secure 3rd place tonight. Teammates Hunter Tapp (1:33.93) and Noah Bowers (1:34.49) took 4th and 8th respectively.

Last year’s champion Colton Paulson of Louisville touched 5th in 1:33.94, not too far off his 1:33.77 from last year. UVA’s Jack Wright touched in 1:34.18, taking 6th, one spot higher than last year. FSU’s Peter Varjasi took 7th in 1:34.32.

UNC’s Tomas Sungalia, who led the A-final for most of the race last year before touching 3rd, won the B-final with a time of 1:34.00.

100 Breast – Finals

• ACC Record: 51.30 – Brandon Fiala (Virginia Tech), 2017
• Meet Record: 51.36 – Evgenii Somov (Louisville), 2021
• 2020 NCAA Invite Time: 52.46
• 2020 champion: Evgenii Somov (Louisville), 51.85

Top 3:

1. Evgenii Somov (Louisville) – 51.03
2. Noah Nichols (Virginia) – 51.36
3. Cooper Van Der Laan (Pitt) – 51.52

Sure enough, Louisville senior Evgenii Somov, completed his ACC career sweep of this event, winning his 4th-straight title with a time of 51.03. That time breaks the meet record he set this morning, the overall ACC Record previously held by VT’s Brandon Fiala, and moves him past Dillon Hillis up to #2 in the nation this season.

A UVA swimmer took 2nd, but not the one who topped the psych sheet coming into this week. This morning, Cavalier freshman Noah Nichols took down the UVA school record before teammate Keefer Barnum took it back two heats later. Nichols regained that record tonight, touching in 51.36 (equaling Somov’s meet record from this morning), and moving to #3 in the nation that season. Barnum finished 5th with a time of 51.76, also under the school record he set this morning.

Pitt’s Cooper Van Der Laan also broke his own school record, touching in 51.52 for 3rd. Continuing the trend, UNC’s Valdas Abaliksta broke his own Tar Heel record with a time of 51.74.

200 IM champion Caio Pumputis of Georgia Tech took 6th in 52.10, followed by Notre Dame’s Josh Bottelberghe (52.39) and Virginia Tech’s AJ Pouch (52.50).

Florida State’s Izaak Bastian didn’t let swimming in the B-final stop him from breaking a school record, as he won the B-final and set the FSU record with a time of 51.84.

100 Back – Finals

• ACC Record: 43.98 – Coleman Stewart (NC State), 2019
• Meet Record: 44.04 – Coleman Stewart (NC State), 2020
• 2020 NCAA Invite Time: 46.22
• 2020 Champion: Coleman Stewart (NC State), 44.04

Top 3:

1. Kacper Stokowski (NC State) – 44.82
2. Nick Albiero (Louisville) – 44.85
3. Mitchell Whyte ( Louisville) – 45.13

Kacper Stokowski projected to be an immediate-impact swimmer when he announced his transfer from Florida to NC State after the 2019 season. And after taking a gap year, Stokowski earned his first individual ACC title with a a 44.82 win tonight. Stokowski was in the middle of the pack at the 50, but brought it home in a 22.83. After three-straight titles by Coleman Stewart, this is the 4th-straight title in this event for the Wolfpack.

Louisville’s Nick Albiero earned his 2nd silver of the night with his time of 44.85, just a tenth off of his 3rd-place time from last year. Teammate Mitchell Whyte, last year’s runner-up, took 3rd in 45.13. Whyte has been under 45 multiple times, but with his swim-off this morning, this was his 5th swim of the day. Fellow Cardinal Nikolaos Sofiandis took 6th in 46.72.

Georgia Tech’s Kyle Barone actually led at the halfway point, flipping in 21.34, ultimately taking 4th for the second year in a row, with a time of 45.83. FSU’s Mason Herbert took 5th in 46.10, with Virginia’s Justin Grender (46.76) and Virginia Tech’s Forest Webb (46.95) rounding out the A-final.

Score Update

1. Louisville – 761
2. NC State – 760
3. Virginia Tech – 746
4. Virginia – 577
5. UNC – 527
6. Florida State – 488
7. Georgia Tech – 451
8. Notre Dame – 379
9. Pitt – 288
10. Duke – 232
11. Miami (FL) – 207
12. Boston College – 104

With all diving point included, Louisville currently has a one-point lead over NC State, with Virginia Tech very much in the hunt. Virginia has moved up to 4th, but it doesn’t look like they’ll be able to move up to the top 3, barring something disastrous happening from one of the top 3 teams.

400 Medley Relay – Timed Finals

• ACC Record: 3:01.76 – NC State, 2018
• Meet Record: 3:02.80 – Louisville, 2020
• NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 3:05.95
• NCAA ‘B’ Cut: 3:07.74
• 2020 Champion: Louisville, 3:02.80

1. Louisville – 3:02.91
2. Georgia Tech – 3:04.37
3. Virginia Tech – 3:05.53

Louisville successfully defended their title in this event, nearly matching last year’s time with a 3:02.91.  After a long delay, it was announced that NC State had been disqualified for a 15m violation on the backstroke leg.

The Cardinals got a 45.50 backstroke leg by Whyte, followed by a 50.58 breast split from Somov. Albiero clocked 44.81 on the fly leg before handing it off to anchor Haridi Sameh, who split 42.02 en route to a 3:02.91 finish.

Swimming in that same heat, Georgia Tech got splits of 45.83, 51.66, 44.85, and 42.02 by Barone, Pumputis, Ferrao, and Unlu, taking 2nd overall with a 3:04.37.

Virginia Tech won the second heat, and placed 3rd overall, with a 3:05.53, under the NCAA ‘A’ cut. Forest Webb led off with a 46.48, followed by AJ Pouch (52.17), Ivanov (44.78), and Ramadan (42.10).

UVA got under the NCAA ‘B’ cut, clocking a 3:06.88 with a 51.87 breast split by Nichols, a 41.87 anchor by Matt Brownstead, and a pair of 46.5 on back and fly by Will Cole and Max Edwards. The Tar Heel quartet of Christopher Thames (46.76), Abaliksta (51.88), Poelke (45.83) and Jack Messenger (42.92) combined for a 3:07.39, also good for a NCAA ‘B’ cut.

Pitt initially finished just shy of the NCAA ‘B’ cut before being DQ’d.

It’s worth nothing that Boston College actually finished ahead of Duke by 0.04s, clocking a 3:13.71 that appears to be a school record by over three seconds.

Team Scores After Day 3

1. Louisville – 825
2. Virginia Tech – 800
3. NC State – 760
4. Virginia – 629
5. UNC – 567
6. Florida State – 536
7. Georgia Tech – 507
8. Notre Dame – 425
9. Pitt – 288
10. Duke – 272
11. Miami (FL) – 207
12. Boston College – 148

With all diving points factored in, and one more day of swimming to go, it looks like we’re in the for the closest team battle we’ve seen in years at this meet. Louisville holds a 25-point lead over Virginia Tech, while NC State’d relay DQ drops them to 3rd. Virginia is pretty well locked into 4th, while UNC will need to swim well tomorrow to hold off Florida State and Georgia Tech. Notre Dame appears to be locked into 8th, while Pitt should hold off Duke despite the relay DQ.