2023 NCAA DIVISION I MEN’S SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS
- March 22-25, 2023
- Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center | Minneapolis, MN
- SCY (25 yards)
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It was a monumental swim in more ways than one for Youssef Ramadan in the 100 butterfly, as not only did he become the second-fastest swimmer of all-time, but he also made history for Virginia Tech.
Ramadan won an exciting race with Florida freshman Josh Liendo, using an explosive final turn to gain an edge and secure the victory, touching in 43.15 for the second-fastest swim of all-time.
Ramadan’s win marks the first-ever national swimming title for Virginia Tech, making the Hokies the 72nd school in NCAA history to win an individual men’s championship.
YOUR FIRST NATIONAL CHAMPION IN HOKIE HISTORY GOES TO YOUSSEF RAMADAN IN THE 100 FLY 🥇🥇🥇#gohokies #nationalchampion pic.twitter.com/RvRujPKIyD
— Virginia Tech Swimming & Diving (@HokiesSwimDive) March 24, 2023
A junior, Ramadan’s previous highest NCAA finish came last year, when he placed third in the 100 fly in a tight race with Stanford’s Andrei Minakov and Georgia’s Luca Urlando.
That tied Antani Ivanov for the highest finish in VA Tech history until tonight’s performance, with Ivanov having placed third at the 2021 NCAAs in the 200 fly.
In that 2022 race, Ramadan set what was his best time prior to tonight’s swim at 43.90. He came into this week’s championships as the top seed and the only swimmer in the country under 44 seconds this season at 43.93.
On the women’s side, the highest finish the Hokies have ever had in the pool is fourth, done by both Jessica Botzum in the 200 breast in 2007, and Emma Atkinson in the 200 back in 2021.
Read more on Ramadan’s swim here.
For posterity:
“Like after three years, finally, three years. Like these guys, they were always faster than me. I came from zero, you know, every year I had a chance to win, but something happened.
And finally, it’s my time, you know, so many people had faith in me, so many people had faith in me, because they know that I put the hard work in this. Like, I, I put so much into this.
I sleep every day, early, like a bot. Wake up. 5am swimming, cold pool. I hated it. I hated it. But I knew every…I was saying one day, I’m gonna be NCAA champion. One day, I’m gonna be a champion. Today is finally that day.… Read more »
we NEED the post race interview vid
The clip is on Virginia Tech’s instagram.
gracias
Post race interview : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdsFTY-OK8o
Greatest post race interview answer ever!
Not to mention he’s Fasting for Ramadan
Awesome swim!
King