ACC Champion Max Carlsen Drops Over Nine Seconds in Freshman Season in 500 En Route to ACC Gold

2026 Atlantic Coast Conference Championships

• Dates:
  • Diving: Sunday, February 15–Tuesday, February 17
  • Swimming: Tuesday, February 17–Saturday, February 21
• Location: McAuley Aquatic Center, Atlanta, GA
• Defending champions: UVA women (6x); Cal men (1x)
• Live Results
• Live Video: ESPN+ ($)
• Schedule of Events (PDF)
• Championship Central
• Pre-Scratch Psych Sheet
• Live Results
• Live Recaps
  • Prelims: Day 4
  • Finals: Day 1|Day 2|Day 3|Day 4
• Teams: Boston College, Cal, Duke, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Miami (women swimming & diving/men diving), NC State, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, SMU, Stanford, Virginia, Virginia Tech

MEN’S 500 FREESTYLE 

• NCAA: 4:02.31 — Léon Marchand, ASU (2024)
• ACC: 4:06.74 — Lucas Henveaux, California (2025)
• ACC Championship Record: 4:08.83 — Lucas Henveaux, California (2025)
• Pool: 4:06.61 — Matthew Sates, Georgia (2022)
• 2025 NCAA Invite Time: 4:14.13

Top 8:

1. Max Carlsen (NCST)- 4:09.44
2. Ethan Ekk (STAN)- 4:11.07
3. Ryan Erisman (CAL)- 4:11.50
4. Eduardo Oliveira de Moraes (CAL)- 4:11.96
5. Nathan Wiffen (CAL)- 4:12.57
6. Patrick Branon (ND)- 4:15.92
7. Oscar Isberg (UL)- 4:21.64
8. Norvin Clontz (CAL)- 4:23.12

On the first night of swimming finals (day 4 overall) of the 2026 ACC Swimming and Diving Championships, NC State freshman Max Carlsen threw down a major career best in the 500 freestyle to capture his first individual ACC title, and dip below the 4:10 mark in the event in 4:09.44.

Carlsen, the Las Vegas native, entered these championships with a career best of 4:11.89 in the event from the January 23rd dual with in-conference opponent Virginia. In prelims, Carlsen finished 3rd in 4:14.49, only trailing the Cal duo of Ryan Erisman (4L11.17) and Eduardo Oliveira de Moraes (4:12.72).

In the finals, Carlsen jumped trounced the field from the start, opening up in 47,69 at the 100 and 1:38.65 at the 200 mark. From there, Carlsen found his rhythm, splitting 51.15 and 5051 on each of his next two 100s before unleashing a blazing 49.13 final 100, highlighted by a 24.35 final 50, to take the win by over a second and a half in 4:09.44, earning the event win and conference championship gold.

Prior to his time with the Wolfpack, Carlsen’s fastest career time was 4:18.87, set as a junior at Palo Verde High School at the Nevada 5A State Championships in May of 2024. Since arriving in Raleigh, Carlsen has not dipped below 4:16.62, which came in prelims of the Raleigh Rumble in early November.

As of the time of publication, he has set a best time in this event four times during his freshman season, highlighted by an ACC title in his latest swim.

The following chart shows Carlsen’s 500 free performances since joining the Wolfpack program:

That time moves him ahead of Ross Dant (4:10.35) for the 2nd-fastest time in program history; he now trails only Anton Ipsen‘s 2018 program record of 4:09.19.