After two years at the University of North Carolina, Aidan Crisci has decided to transfer to the University of Tennessee for his last two years of college swimming. Crisci was the 9th-place finisher in the 400 IM at last year’s ACC Championships.
His older brother Flynn Crisci, a school record holder at Pitt, also recently announced a transfer to Tennessee for his 5th year of eligibility.
“I am excited to announce that I will be continuing my academic and athletic career at The University of Tennessee!” Crisci said in an Instagram post. “Thank you to @vol_swimdive for giving me this opportunity.”
He also thanked North Carolina for his time there.
“Thank you to @uncswimdive , I am extremely grateful for the two years I spent in Chapel Hill and the friends that I made there.
“Go Vols! 🍊”
A native of Williamsburg, Virginia, Crisci scored 20 points at the 2023 ACC Championships. That made him the team’s 5th-best scorer at the meet.
Best Times in Yards:
| HS Best | Freshman Year |
Sophomore Year
|
|
| 500 free | 4:32.88 | 4:25.29 | 4:22.49 |
| 200 fly | 1:52.37 | 1:45.80 | 1:46.52 |
| 400 IM | 3:53.21 | 3:49.64 | 3:45.68 |
Among North Carolina’s top five scorers, three (including divers Anton Down-Jenkins and Alex Hart) won’t return next season, accounting for 125 of the team’s 312 individual points. They lost an additional 12 points to retirement (Nick Radkov), 14 points to graduation (Alex Mays, Tomas Sungalia), and a further 4 to transfer (Dylan Citta).
That adds up to a big uphill climb for the Tar Heel men next season after an 8th-place finish at last year’s ACC Championships.
The good news for UNC is that the class of 2023 is arguably the best men’s incoming class since Mark Gangloff took over the program in 2019. That class includes swimmers like Ben Delmar and Colin Whelehan who already have ACC scoring times.
While the SEC is a little better in his specialty events than the ACC is, his best time in the 400 IM still puts him in the B-final for Tennessee. His best time in the 200 fly also would have scored points last year.
He’ll join a training group that includes former D2 champion Landon Driggers, the team’s top 400 IMer, and rising sophomore Martin Espernberger, who was 4th in the 200 fly at the SEC Championships. Neither group is particularly deep, so there’s a lot of room for Crisci to contribute to the Volunteers.
The Tennessee men finished 3rd at last year’s SEC Championship meet.
Why is everyone so mean to papa mark and UNC:( I love the Tar Heels!!🥲
I would bet that most of the negative comments are coming from competing schools within the metro Raleigh/Durham area. Recruiting you know.
Or the swimmers who have transferred/quit lol
Or the swimmers Mark has treated poorly
Sounds like a nice young man
Mark Gangloff didn’t deserve aiden anyways he’s a dawg
Keep defending Mark Gangloff. He’s going to need it after this year if he wants to keep his job. The newly appointed coaches in the ACC will bully him down to 10th in no time.
UNC keeps losing all their best swimmers, I’m thinking this might be correlated to coaching staff. Interesting to watch this all unfold. Losing Citta was a mistake and now Aidan, UNC gonna get destroyed in the ACC this year.
would have liked to attribute it to Gangloff ‘cleaning house’ on his arrival but you don’t get to play that card four years in. But hey, the women came in 10th in NCAAs, so, he must…oh wait, that was all one diver, doh.
Yea Aranza killed it at NCCAs, very talented diving coach Chapel Hill has. Also Jack Brown has been able to develop great talent in Crisci and others.
Last one in Chapel Hill, please turn out the lights
Where do we start with the problems at Carolina currently? There seem to be many.
Interesting that all swimmers that have transferred / retired are from the same year.