Hokie Freshman Ethan Maloney Hits Lifetime Best to Win 100 Breast Swim-Off For A-Final

2023 ACC SWIMMING AND DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Tuesday, February 14 to Saturday, February 18, 2023
• Greensboro Aquatic Center, Greensboro, North Carolina
• Defending Champions:
  • Women: Virginia (3x)
  • Men: NC State (results)
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In the final event of this morning’s prelims session in Greensboro, UVA’s Max Iida drew a disqualification after initially appearing to qualify for the A-final.

That DQ set up a swim-off for the final spot in the championship final, as Iida’s teammate Daniel Worth and Virginia Tech freshman Ethan Maloney had tied at 52.81.

Roughly 30 minutes after the end of the regular session, the pair stepped onto the blocks again.

Maloney got off to a noticeably faster start, hitting the first wall roughly three-tenths ahead of Worth, and coming through the first 50 at 24.0. Maloney maintained his lead the whole way through, ultimately coming in nearly a second faster than his initial swim this morning, at 51.95. Worth shaved 0.01s off his prelims time, touching in 52.80.

That’s a huge personal best for Maloney, who came into today with a best of 53.16 from the Virginia Tech Invite a few weeks ago. He committed just over a year ago with a best of 53.74, then improved his time twice at the VT invite before dropping time twice today.

Maloney’s win in the swim-off gives the Hokies three men in the A-final, as Carles Coll Marti and AJ Pouch also qualified. VT Las put Joseph Hong into the C-finaal.

UVA meanwhile, has the top seed of the morning in Noah Nichols, who tied the conference record, and Worth will join August Lamb in the B-final. While Worth surely wanted to find himself in the A-final, he did hit PRs twice today, as his prelims swim was the first time he’d been under 53.0 in the event.