2020 ACC Men’s Championships: Day 4 Prelims Live Recap

2020 ACC Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships

• When: Wednesday, February 26th to Saturday, February 29th 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, 5th-straight) (results)
• Streaming: ACC Network
  • Day 2 Finals
  • Day 3 Finals
  • Day 4 Finals
• Championship Central: Here
• Detailed Timeline: Here
• Psych Sheets: Here
• Live Results
• Saturday Morning Prelims Heat Sheets

The final morning of the 2020 ACC Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships will include heats of the 200 back, 100 free, 200 breast, and 200 fly. NC State should be locked into first place at this point, but there’s plenty of jockeying for position further down the rankings, meaning that this morning could prove decisive in some of these team battles.

Standings After Day 3

1. NC State – 853
2. Virginia – 762
3. Louisville – 746
4. Virginia Tech – 596
5. Florida State – 589.5
6. Notre Dame – 558.5
7. North Carolina – 486
8. Pitt – 385
9. Georgia Tech – 379
10. Duke – 344
11. Miami (diving only) – 197
12. Boston College – 102

NC State’s Coleman Stewart is the top seed in the 200 back, and he’ll be going for the back sweep after winning the 100 back in 44.0 last night. Teammate Nyls Korstanje is shooting for the sprint free sweep, and he’s the top seed in the 100 free.

Defending champion Caio Pumputis of Georgia Tech, is the top seed in the 200 breast, but he has yet to win an event this week, and he’ll be squaring off against a field that includes four other men from last year’s A-final.

Virginia Tech’s Blake Manoff holds the top seed in the 200 fly, while last year’s champion Nick Albiero, who won the 100 fly last night, will be swimming right next to him in the final heat this morning.

200 Back – Prelims

• ACC record: 1:38.56 – Hennesey Stuart (NC State), 2016
• ACC meet record: 1:39.05 – Grigory Tarasevich (Louisville), 2017
• 2019 champion: Coleman Stewart (NC State), 1:39.10

1. Mitchell Whyte (Louisville) – 1:40.29
2. Coleman Stewart (NC State) – 1:40.60
3. Samuel Tornqvist (Virginia Tech) – 1:40.62
4. Justin Grender (Virginia) – 1:40.83
5. Christopher Thames (North Carolina) – 1:42.05
6. Ross Dant (NC State) – 1:42.46
7. Lane Stone (Virginia Tech) – 1:42.50
8. Jack Montesi (Notre Dame) – 1:42.56

Mitchell Whyte nearly hit a new personal best this morning, taking the top seed in a 1:40.29 that’s only 0.01s off his lifetime best, done at last year’s NCAAs.

NC State and Virginia Tech each put two up, Coleman Stewart (1:40.60) and Ross Dant (1:42.46) qualifying for the Wolfpack and Samuel Tornqvist (1:40.62) and Lane Stone (1:42.50) qualifying for the Hokies. That’s a new lifetime best for Dant by over two seconds. He’s also scheduled to swim the mile this afternoon, meaning he’ll have a tight turnaround between the 1650 and the final of this event.

UVA’s Justin Grender essentially matched his time trial swim from Wednesday with a 1:40.83 this morning. The Cavaliers just missed out on having another A-finalist, when Joe Clark, who took 3rd last year, missed the A-final by 0.06s, taking 9th in 1:42.60.

The final spot went to Notre Dame’s Jack Montesi (1:42.56).

100 Free – Prelims

• ACC record: 41.05 – Ryan Held (NC State), 2018
• ACC meet record: 41.41 – Ryan Held (NC State), 2018
• 2019 champion: Kanoa Kaleoaloha (Florida State), 42.34

1. Miles Williams (Duke) – 42.53
2. Andrej Barna (Louisville) – 42.57
3. Peter Varjasi (Florida State) – 42.71
4. Ryan Baker (Virginia) – 42.79
5. Abdelrahman Sameh (Louisville) – 42.89
6. Tommy Hallock (Virginia Tech) – 42.90
7. Nyls Korstanje (NC State) – 42.92
8. Will Messenger (North Carolina) 43.05

Duke’s Miles Williams, last year’s 5th-place finisher, led the way this morning with a 43.53.

Louisville’s Andrej Barna, who missed the A-final last year and finished 10th, qualified 2nd today with a 42.57. Louisville was the only team to put two men up, and he’ll be joined by Abdelrahman Sameh (42.89). Louisville went 2/1/3 in this event versus UVA’s 1/2/1, making it increasingly that the battle for 2nd may come down to how each school perform’s tonight.

UVA’s Ryan Baker (42.79) and NC State’s Nyls Korstanje (42.90) will also return from last year’s A-final. Other newcomers include FSU’s Peter Varjasi (42.71), Virginia Tech’s Tommy Hallock (42.90), and UNC’s Will Messenger (43.05).

Last year’s runner-up, Blaise Vera of Pitt, ended up 10th this morning with a 43.14.

All in all, prelims for this event was slower than last year, when it took a 42.65 to qualify for the A-final.

200 Breast – Prelims

• ACC record: 1:50.79 – Caio Pumputis (Georgia Tech), 2019
• ACC meet record: 1:51.46 – Caio Pumputis (Georgia Tech), 2019
• 2019 champion: Caio Pumputis (Georgia Tech), 1:50.79

1. AJ Pouch (Virginia Tech) – 1:53.72
2. Evgenii Somov (Louisville) – 1:54.36
3. Keefer Barnum (Virginia) – 1:54.37
4. Casey Storch (Virginia) – 1:54.78
5. Matthew Otto (Virginia) – 1:54.99
6. Joshua Bottelberghe (Notre Dame) – 1:55.12
7. Daniel Sos (Louisville) – 1:55.75
8. Valdas Abaliksta (North Carolina) – 1:55.96

Virginia Tech freshman AJ Pouch, the 2018 Junior Pan Pacs silver medalist in the long course version of this event, swam a lifetime best by over a second this morning to take the top seed.

Louisville put two up: Evgenii Somov (1:54.36), last year’s runner, and Daniel Sos (1:55.75), who put together a good swim here after slipping to the C-final in the 400 IM yesterday after making the A-final in 2019.

Virginia saw Louisville’s two and raised them one, taking the 3rd-5th seeds this morning in the form of Keefer Barnum (1:54.37), Casey Storch (1:54.78), and Matthew Otto (1:54.99). All three men return from last year’s A-final. The Cavaliers came within in a whisker of putting four up, as Sam Schilling missed by a mere 0.05s.

Notre Dame’s Joshua Bottelberghe (1:55.12), last year’s 3rd-place finisher returns, while UNC’s Valdas Abaliksta (1:55.96) moves up after finishing 15th last year.

One noticeable name that did not make the A-final is Caio Pumputis, the defending champion and ACC record holder, who slipped to 10th this morning with a 1:56.05.

200 Fly – Prelims

• ACC record: 1:38.57 – Andreas Vazaois (NC State), 2019
• ACC meet record: 1:40.70 – Nick Albiero (Louisville), 2019
• 2019 champion: Nick Albiero (Louisville), 1:40.70

1. Nick Albiero (Louisville) – 1:40.51
2. Ted Schubert (Virginia) – 1:42.09
3. Zach Brown (NC State) – 1:42.27
4. Antani Ivanov (Virginia Tech) – 1:42.28
5. Christian Ferraro (Georgia Tech)- 1:42.66
6. Blake Manoff (Virginia Tech) – 1:42.79
7. Erge Gezmis (NC State) – 1:43.31
8. Max Polianski (Florida State) – 1:44.25

Louisville’s Nick Albiero broke his own meet record in prelims, throwing down a 1:40.51 that moves him to #2 in the nation this season, pending other results from this morning.

Albiero was over 1.5s faster than anyone else in the field, then there was a cluster of men in the low-1:42s, including Virginia’s Ted Schubert (1:42.09), who has the swept the IMs so far this week, NC State’s Zach Brown (1:42.27) and Virginia Tech’s Antani Ivanov (1:42.28).

Virginia Tech and NC State each put two up, Blake Manoff (1:42.79) joining teammate Ivanov and Erge Gezmis (1:43.31) joining Brown.

Georgia Tech’s Christian Ferraro (1:42.66) and Florida State’s Max Polianski (1:44.25) round out the top eight.