Fitter and Faster Swim Camps is the proud sponsor of SwimSwam’s College Recruiting Channel and all commitment news. For many, swimming in college is a lifelong dream that is pursued with dedication and determination. Fitter and Faster is proud to honor these athletes and those who supported them on their journey.
Ethan Holloway from Raleigh, North Carolina has announced his commitment to NC State for fall 2026. He will join his father Braden Holloway who has been the head coach of the Wolfpack since 2011.
Ethan swims for New Wave Swim Team and finished his long course season at Futures in Greensboro. There he posted a lifetime best 1:59.43 in the 200 free, marking his first time under the 2:00 mark. His highest finish was 70th in the 50 free as he swam to a 24.55. Earlier in July, he swam to four best times at the North Carolina State championship. Those included a 23.90 for 11th and a 57.19 100 fly for 13th. His 100 fly swim marked almost a two second drop over the last year.
This past spring, he finished his short course season at NCSAs. He swam to two lifetime bests including a 20.96 in the 50 free and a 46.04 in the 100 free.
Ethan entered his senior year at Wake Christian Academy this fall. Back in February, he swam to a North Carolina Division 2 title in the 100 back posting a 50.95. He also was 2nd in the 50 free in a 21.52. His 100 backstroke win defended his title from 2024 as he won that year in a 52.73, a time that also was a lifetime best at the time.
Ethan’s Best SCY Times Are:
- 50 free: 20.96
- 100 free: 46.04
- 200 free: 1:40.56
- 100 back: 50.45
- 200 back: 1:50.17
The NC State men finished 3rd at the 2025 ACC Championships and went on to finish 9th at the 2025 NCAA Championships. Backstroke and sprint freestyler Quintin McCarty led the way with 15 individual points at 2025 NCAAs as he was 8th in the 50 free and 13th in the 100 back.
It took a 46.71 in the 100 back, a 1:34.41 in the 200 free, and a 1:42.64 in the 200 back to earn a second swim at ACCs this past season.
Ethan will join his father Braden Holloway who has been the head coach of the team since 2011. Braden was an assistant coach for Team USA at the 2024 Paris Olympics and was the head coach of the US this past summer at the 2025 World Championships.
Ethan will arrive next fall as a member of the class of 2030 along with #12 Liam Carrington (free/back) and ‘Best of the Rest’ ranked recruits Austin Temple (sprint free) and Sam Marsteiner (fly).
If you have a commitment to report, please send an email with a photo (landscape, or horizontal, looks best) and a quote to [email protected].
About the Fitter and Faster Swim Tour
Fitter & Faster Swim Camps feature the most innovative teaching platforms for competitive swimmers of all levels. Camps are produced year-round throughout the USA and Canada. All camps are led by elite swimmers and coaches. Visit fitterandfaster.com to find or request a swim camp near you.
FFT SOCIAL
Instagram – @fitterandfasterswimtour
Facebook – @fitterandfastertour
Twitter – @fitterandfaster
FFT is a SwimSwam partner.
All of these comments aged well.
The people hating in the comments are insane. Braden is a good coach and a good person, not to mention his son is a good person and would absolutely contribute to the team culture. He has lots of room for improvement and I think will do very well under his dads coaching. Not to mention, Quintin McCarty was also a 1:40 200 freestyler when he committed, and now is a 1:35 200 freestyler. Ethan could also see the same improvement, and in his backstroke as well. I do not think this was a bad choice at all from Braden.
NC State is a good enough program to find someone to fill his roster spot with someone much faster. It’s not about that he has potential, I’m sure he’ll improve. But another kid that isn’t Braden’s son and has these same times wouldn’t be given a spot on the team. But he is, because he’s his son. That’s where the gripes come from. Especially given the post-House circumstances.
Seeing that there are only 3 other 2026 commits, and that Ethan waited until senior year to commit, I think with 30 roster spots one spot filled by a decent swimmer will be fine. It’s not like he was given the first spot available either.
Quintin McCarty was recruited because he was a 19.3/42.6 freestyler with a 46.5 100 back. That’s nice that Ethan is a good kid and can contribute to team culture – but how many other swimmers with his times would NC State get to know to see if they’d contribute to team culture? NCSU is one of the best schools in the country, there is no reason for them to recruit someone who would be hard pressed to make D3 nats other than the fact that he’s Braden’s son.
This case depending on how it will turn out in the future is very similar to ASU sophomore Ariel Beltran who is in a similar boat. Had times coming out of high school that were maybe good enough for any other recruit to go to a mid major D1 school and was a double legacy of a previous swimmer from ASU. She’s currently a lower end roster contributer to start off her 2nd year. I think this doesn’t necessarily hold well from the perspective after the cuts that happened at NC State with the freshman cut. But I agree with the hope that Ethan drops a lot of time this year to get much closer to that scoring range that… Read more »
This is a full ride roster spot that comes from the father’s tuition benefits of employment, not from the swim team scholarship fund. Look at Dan Hurley at UConn, he did the EXACT same thing. Great decision Coach, and good luck, Ethan!
PS Dan Hurley’s kid won two national titles, go get em!!
At schools like this, it’s not about scholarship money anymore, NIL deals have made sure of that- the roster spots themselves are the commodity.
I don’t believe NC State gives full rides to kids of employees. I see $2,000, unless he’s negotiated it separately.
Still…on a team with 30 roster spots, I have no issues with a coach giving their kid a spot. He’s a capable swimmer. If it doesn’t work out, he can quit or transfer, just like anyone else.
In state tuition at State is like $9k/year these days, so $2k takes care of almost 25% of it. It’s probably cheaper for his family than attending mostly anywhere else
Congrats to Ethan, and Braden, on choosing NCST. I’m not tied to NC State in any way, but I am a big fan of Braden Holloway. This will be a good test for the program and I can’t wait to see how this works out. I hope he ends up crushing it to prove all of the nay-sayers wrong. Braden wouldn’t have offered him a spot if he didn’t see something there.
For sure. And if he goes 45 as a senior, the team’s improvement data will go through the roof.
Maybe kid has rizz and is a good recruiter. Either the improvement curve, or being the coach’s kid, is probably good for recruiting.
Spent awhile looking at his improvement this season, I noticed you said if he goes 45 as a senior…his improvement is turning out really well as he goes 44 at Winter Juniors East along with anchoring a 43.70 on a relay.
I hope he goes off this year.
At Winter Juniors East Ethan just ripped a 20.0 dropping almost and second and a 44.8 dropping over second along with a 48.2 in 100fly dropping over 3 seconds just this season…
After reading these comments, I hope he proves everyone wrong
Must have been a tough recruiting battle….
I’m sure he looked at other places, given that he’s pretty fast and he waited until senior year to decide.