WAVE Sprint Into Long Course
- April 25-26, 2026
- Cary, NC
- LCM (50 meters)
- “2026 WAVE Sprint into LC” on Meet Mobile
Ethan Holloway, the son of NC State head coach Braden Holloway, downed the North Carolina LSC record in the 50 breaststroke at the WAVE Sprint into Long Course meet in Cary, blasting a lifetime best 27.86.
A screenshot posted to a WAVE team meme Instagram page following the record-breaking performance was captioned, “Only illegal if you get caught”. While the picture itself has a caption that reads “Shout out to the refs for closing their eyes”.
Comments on that post suggest that Holloway may have been doing dolphin kicks throughout the race, but meet officials did not see it.
Holloway, a 2026 NC State commit, raced in all four 50-meter events at this meet, notably winning the 50 breast and 50 back (27.31), and finishing runner-up in the 50 fly (25.14) and 50 free (23.87). All four of those swims marked new lifetime best performances.
Prior to this meet, Holloway’s best 50 breast time came at the FL RAFC Last Splash in July of 2024, where he clocked a 31.71.
The future Wolfpack freshman is coming off of a strong senior season at Wake Christian Academy, having won a pair of sprint freestyle events at the NCISAA Division 2 State Championships in February; winning the 50 free in 20.96 and 100 free in 45.92, both well off of his best times of 20.05 and 44.58, respectively.
His 50 free was a seven hundredths drop from his former best from the NC Senior Championships last July in 23.90. The 50 back marked a half second drop from the RAFC Last Splash in July of 2024, while the 50 fly was a near second and a half drop from his 26.53 from last summer’s NC Senior Championships.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wE74DS6KmI&t=5363s
The race video is here at the 1:29 mark
I’m here for the pro-Ethan Holloway propaganda
Kind of crazy that a kid who doesn’t swim a lot of breaststroke and has a lifetime best of 59 in SCY 100 is suddenly putting up times that would have been top 8 at the Pro Swim Series in Westmont a month or so ago. And competitive with guys who have been national champions and Olympians in breast.
https://www.swimcloud.com/results/381683/event/30/?id=173278718#time173278718
Good on him though I guess.
Seems well prepped to help the Wuffies DQ relays….
Bro has basically the same time for back and breast.
Just more dry snitching from kids and parents. I’m pretty sure those kids have never had a penalized illegal stroke in their life.
This distinguished gentlemen is truly going places!!
Can someone explain to me why this is an article when it states cheating happened?
A meme account run by the swimmers he beat said that he broke the rules.
1) Super serious source
2) Basically every breaststroker breaks the rules
3) Time counts if he wasn’t DQ’ed
4) If he did break the rules, adds a relevant data point to the conversation about #2. See also: NCAA Championships.
The source is reliable. Video evidence exists to show the illegal maneuver. The referee in charge of the middle of the pool spoke to parents and claimed that they (refs) all knew that it was Illegal, yet due to glare on the water were unable to dual confirm the DQ. Support the kid, but cheating is not worth an article.
FYI – “dual confirmation” only exists when the Starter/Ref call a false start DQ.