2021 ACC Men’s Championships: Day 4 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
• Saturday Finals Heat Sheets

This morning didn’t quite as many fireworks as yesterday morning, when multiple meet records went down, but it’s should be a cracker of a finals session tonight, as three teams are still in the running for a first place finish, and this could very well come down to the final relay.

NC State sits 65 points behind Louisville and 40 behind Virginia Tech after being disqualified in the 400 medley relay yesterday, but the Wolfpack had the morning session they need to in order to stay in the thick of things, and we should actually have a good idea of how the score is shaping after the final heat of the 1650, a strength for NC State.

Notre Dame’s Jack Hoagland is the highest returner from last year’s 1650, where he took 2nd, and he’ll be gunning for his third individual title of the week, already won the 500 free and the 400 IM. But NC State will occupy the three lanes next to Hoagland with Eric Knowles, Ross Dant, and James Plage.

The 200 back will feature last year’s runner-up, Louisville’s Mitchell Whyte, in lane 4, as he posted the fastest time of the morning with 1:40.89. We’ll also have a new champion in the 100 free, where Virginia Tech freshman Youssef Ramadan had the fastest time of the morning with a 42.27.

A pair of Louisville Cardinal seniors will be looking to defend their titles in the final two individual events of the meet. Evgenii Somov has won the 200 breast two out of the last three years, and he’ll be in lane 5 after swimming 1:53.41 in prelims. Notre Dame’s Josh Bottelberghe will be in lane 4 after his 1:53.34 this morning. Nick Albiero will be looking for a four-repeat in the 200 fly; he had the fastest prelims time this morning with a 1:40.79.

The meet will wrap up with the 400 free relay, where UVA officially has the fastest time in the conference this season, NC State is the defending champion, and both Louisville and Virginia Tech should be in the mix, especially if the team battle does come down to the final relay,

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

1650 – Timed Finals

• ACC Record: 14:24.43 – Anton Ipsen (NC State), 2018
• Meet Record: 14:27.93 – Zach Yeadon (Notre Dame), 2020
• 2020 NCAA Invite: 14:57.07
• 2020 Champion: Zach Yeadon (Notre Dame), 14:27.93

Top 3:

1. Jack Hoagland (Notre Dame) – 14:31.83
2. Ross Dant (NC State) – 14:35.73
3. Ilia Sibirtsev (Louisville) – 14:41.33

By the middle of the race, Jack Hoagland and Ross Dant had put serious distance in between themselves and everyone else, and it looked to be a two-person race. But Hoagland pulled away on the second half, touched in 14:41.83, and captured his third individual title of the week. That’s a new lifetime best for Hoagland, who took 2nd last year with 14:35.19. Dant shaved a couple seconds off of his best to finish 2nd in 14:35.73.

UVA’s Jack Walker touched third in the final heat with a 14:56.26, ultimately taking 4th in the overall results.

In the end, NC State took 2nd, 8th, 9th, and 11th. Louisville took 3rd, 6th, and 16th, with one swimmer finishing outside of scoring. Virgina Tech placed 20th and 21st.

Early Heats Recap:

Louisville sophomore Ilia Sibirtsev came through for the Cardinals, posting the fastest time of the afternoon with a 14:51.33. That’ll guarantee Sibirtsev at least 9th place, his highest finish at his two ACC Championships. Florida State freshman David Quirie knocked 19 seconds off of his seed time to touch in 14:57.82, the only other man so far to get under 15:00.

NC State’s Curtis Wiltsey has the 4th-fastest time of the day, locking him into at least 12th. Louisville’s two swimmers sit at 9th and 19th, while Virginia Tech’s rank 12th and 13th

Team Scores

1. Louisville – 887
2. NC State – 846
3. Virginia Tech – 809
4. Virginia – 665
5. UNC – 587
6. Florida State – 576
7. Georgia Tech – 521
8. Notre Dame – 494
9. Pitt – 309
10. Duke – 278
11. Miami (FL) – 207
12. Boston College – 148

200 Back – Finals

• ACC Record: 1:37.71 – Coleman Stewart (NC State), 2020
• Meet Record: 1:37.71 – Coleman Stewart (NC State), 2020
• 2020 NCAA Invite: 1:41.49
• 2020 Champion: Coleman Stewart (NC State), 1:37.71

Top 3:

1. Mitchell Whyte (Louisville) – 1:39.98
2. Justin Grender (Virginia) – 1:40.63
3. Samuel Törnqvist (Virginia Tech) – 1:41.11

It looked to be a three-man race at the final turn, but Louisville junior Mitchell Whyte unleashed a monster underwater and emerged about halfway down the pool with the lead. He hung on to touch in 1:39.98, securing his first individual ACC title after taking 2nd in this event the last two years.

UVA’s Justin Grender was in 3rd for most of the race, but got past Virginia’s Tech Samuel Törnqvist on the last 25, touching in 1:40.63 for a new personal best and getting well under last year’s NCAA invite time. Törnqvist took 3rd in 1:41.11. The top three were the only men in the heat to drop time from this morning.

NC State got 4th and 8th place points from Kacper Stokowski (1:41.94) and John Healy (1:43.79). UVA got a 5th place finish from Sean Conway (1:42.52), who was followed by Louisville’s Jack Wever (1:42.66) and UNC’s Christopher Thames (1:42.72).

UVA’s Will Cole won the B-final in 1:41.65, a new personal best that would’ve put him 4th in the A-final.

NC State closed the gap to within 38 points, but is only projected to score 10 more points than Louisville over the next three events.

Scores:

1. Louisville – 959
2. NC State – 921
3. Virginia Tech – 858
4. Virginia – 737
5. UNC – 627
6. Florida State – 585
7. Georgia Tech – 521
8. Notre Dame – 519
9. Pitt – 313
10. Duke – 283
11. Miami (FL) – 207
12. Boston College – 148

100 Free – Finals

• ACC record: 41.05 – Ryan Held (NC State), 2018
• ACC meet record: 41.41 – Ryan Held (NC State), 2018
• 2020 NCAA Invite: 42.57
• 2020 Champion: Nyls Korstanje (NC State), 42.13

Top 3:

1. Matt Brownstead (Virgina) – 41.87
2. Haridi Sameh (Louisville) – 42.07
3. Blaise Vera (Pitt) – 42.21

Virgina freshman Matt Brownstead competed the sprint free sweep with a 41.87 that moves him to #2 all-time in the 17-18 age group. Brownstead was a bit behind heading into the final wall, but powered home with his head down to get the win. Brownstead is UVA’s first ACC champion in this event since 2010, when Scot Robison also won the 50 free and the 100 free (and the 200 free).  Louisville’s Haridi Sameh also swam a new personal best to take 2nd in 42.07, followed by Pitt’s Blaise Vera in 42.21.

Virgina Tech freshman Youssef Ramadan was just a bit off of his time from this morning, taking 4th in 42.50. NC State’s Hunter Tapp and FSU’s Peter Varjasi each dropped a bit of time to touch 5th and 6th in 41.51 and 42.65. Louisville’s Michael Eastman (43.09) and Virginia Tech’s Blake Manoff (43.14) each added a bit of time from prelims to round out the top 8.

Louisville widened the gap over NC State in that race, and now leads 1052-993 with two individual events to go.

200 Breast – Finals

• ACC record: 1:50.79 – Caio Pumputis (Georgia Tech), 2019
• Meet record:1:51.46 – Caio Pumputis (Georgia Tech), 2019
• 2020 NCAA Invite: 1:54.03
• 2020 Champion: Evgenii Somov (Louisville), 1:52.54

Top 3:

1. Evgenii Somov (Louisville) – 1:51.26
2. Caio Pumputis (Georgia Tech) – 1:51.81
3. Cooper Van Der Laan (Pitt) – 1:52.76

Evgenii Somov won his third title in this event in four years, and his seventh ACC breaststroke title overall, with a 1:51.26 here tonight. That time broke the meet and pool record previously held by Georgia Tech’s Caio Pumputis, who finished 2nd in 1:51.81.

Pitt’s Cooper Van Der Laan earned his second 3rd-place finish of the meet, with a 1:52.76, followed by Notre Dame’s Josh Bottelberghe (1:52.87).

Virginia swimmers Noah Nichols (1:52.98) and Keefer Barnum (1:53.02) took 5th and 6th, followed by Virgina Tech’s Carle Coll Marti in 1:53.31. UNC’s Valdas Abaliskta was the only man in the field not to drop time from this morning, taking 8th in 1:54.08.

Louisville now leads NC State 1093-1019, and while NC State is projected to score 58 points more than Louisville in the 200 fly, their path to victory is narrowing quickly.

200 Fly – Finals

• ACC Record: 1:38.57 – Andreas Vazaois (NC State), 2019
• Meet record: 1:38.65 – Nick Albiero (Louisville), 2020
• 2020 NCAA Invite: 1:43.18
• 2020 champion: Nick Albiero (Louisville), 1:38.65

Top 3:

1. Nick Albiero (Louisville) – 1:39.08
2. Antani Ivanov (Virginia Tech) – 1:39.82
3. Christian Ferraro (Georgia Tech) – 1:40.64

Nick Albiero joined teammate Sovov in completing a four-peat this week, as he has now won the 200 fly all four years of his ACC career. Albiero was pushed by Virginia Tech’s Antani Ivanov and Georgia Tech’s Christian Ferraro, but Albiero get chugging the whole way to win by 0.74s, with a 1:39.08. Antani got 2nd in 1:39.82, followed by Ferraro at 1:40.64. All three men were under the NCAA ‘A’ cut.

NC State’s Zach Brown knocked two seconds off his prelims time to take 4th in 1:42.13, just ahead of Virginia Tech’s Dylan Eichberg. Both men finished well under last year’s NCAA Invite time.

Josh Fong of UVA (1:43.98) and Noah Henderson (1:44.45) and Noah Bowers (1:45.01) of NC State rounded out the A-final.

Team Scores

1. Louisville, University of 1125
2. North Carolina State Universit 1115
3. VA Tech 1031
4. Virginia, University of 871
5. Florida State University 688
6. North Carolina, University of, 685
7. Notre Dame, University of 593
8. Georgia Institute of Technolog 591
9. Pittsburgh, University of 413
10. Duke University 307
11. University of Miami (Fl) 207
12. Boston College 148

NC State closed most of the gap, but Louisville still leads by 10 points heading into the final relay, 1125-1115. This sets up a fun scenario where, if NC State was to win the 400 free relay, and Louisville was to finish 3rd, the two teams would tie for the conference championship.

A couple other team battles will come down to the final relay. Florida State holds a 5-point lead over UNC, while Notre Dame holds a 2-point lead over Georgia Tech.

400 Free Relay – Timed Finals

• ACC Record: 2:44.31 – NC State, 2018
• Meet record: 2:45.79 – NC State, 2018
• NCAA ‘A’ Standard: 2:51.11
• NCAA ‘B’ Standard: 2:52.46
• 2020 champion: NC State, 2:48.03

Top 3:

1. NC State – 2:48.19
2. Louisville – 2:48.37
3. Virginia Tech – 2:49.87

NC State won the event, but Louisville’s 2nd-place finish secured them the victory, as the Cardinals win the ACC Championships for the first time and end NC State’s six-year streak at the top.

Swimming in the final heat, NC State got a 42.52 leadoff from freshman Luke Miller, followed by Hunter Tapp (41.66), Giovanni Izzo (42.06), and Kacper Stokowski (41.95).

Louisville swam in the heat before, got a 42.03 leadoff from Haridi Sameh, then a 41.71 split from Nick Albiero, who handed off to Michael Eastman (42.35) and Tanner Cummings (42.28) to easily win their heat in 2:48.37. Had NC State won and another school finished 2nd, Louisville would’ve with tied NC State, as the Wolfpack’s medley relay DQ last night proved to be decisive.

Virgina Tech took 3rd in 2:49.87, with 42s across the board. Florida State did the same to take 4th in 2:50.74. UVA finished 5th in 2:50.79, almost a second slower than their time from the UT Double Dual in December.

The top five teams were all under the NCAA ‘A’ standard, while Georgia Tech also got under the ‘B’ standard.

Final Scores

1. Louisville, University of 1181
2. North Carolina State Universit 1179
3. VA Tech 1085
4. Virginia, University of 921
5. Florida State University 740
6. North Carolina, University of, 729
7. Notre Dame, University of 639
7. Georgia Institute of Technolog 639
9. Pittsburgh, University of 453
10. Duke University 341
11. University of Miami (Fl) 207
12. Boston College 180