2024 ACC SWIMMING AND DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Tuesday, February 20 to Saturday, February 24, 2023
- Greensboro Aquatic Center, Greensboro, North Carolina
- Defending Champions: NC State men / Virginia women
- Full Event Schedule
- Championship Central
- Live Results
- Live Streaming
- Day 1 Finals Recap
- Day 2 Prelims Recap | Day 2 Finals Recap
- Day 3 Prelims Recap | Day 3 Finals Recap
- Day 4 Prelims Recap | Day 4 Finals Recap
NC State 5th year Katharine Berkoff has achieved the rare, and at many points impossible, feat of winning a 5th ACC title in a single event.
Berkoff won the 100 back on Friday evening in 48.70, which is a new Pool and ACC Championship Record, clearing the 49.25 that Gretchen Walsh did at this meet last year. Walsh, the fastest swimmer ever in this event and defending NCAA Champion, opted not to swim the race individually on Friday, though she could still mark a time as the leadoff leg of Virginia’s 400 medley relay on Friday evening.
Two other swimmers in the ACC have both achieved this. Louisville breaststroker Evgenii Somov won five straight conference titles in the 100 breast from 2018 through 2022. That same year, his teammate Nicolas Albiero did the same in the 200 fly.
No ACC woman has ever pulled this off. Christian Bart did it last weekend for Oakland University in the Horizon League.
Berkoff, like all NCAA Division I swimmers who competed in the 2020-2021 COVID-impacted season, received an extra year of eligibility as an enticement to not redshirt the disjointed season.
Because conference championship meets concluded before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down in 2020, swimmers were able to get wins as part of streaks even though the 2020 NCAA Championship meets were canceled. This year’s senior class will be the only with an opportunity to win five straight NCAA Division I Championships, though we couldn’t think of any candidates (they would have to have four straight titles and be fifth-year seniors this season).
Berkoff’s best time in the 100 back was previously 48.74, done at the 2022 NCAA Championships. She’s also the defending World Championship bronze medalist in the 100 back in long course. Her dad David Berkoff was an NCAA Champion backstroker at Harvard.
48.70 is amazing! Congratulations Katharine! You rock!
and then Gretchen went 48.10 leadoff in the medley relay……
Are you not getting enough attention? Sad
Yeah, let’s see who bests each other in the LCM 100 back when it really matters in June for the Olympics. My money is on Berkoff.
Incredible run and an outstanding time. Pretty cool!
How can W1 be the meet record holder, but Berkhoff won the event 5 consecutive times?
Relay leadoffs.
Isn’t Alex W1? She’s older.
A record that will never be broken!
I mean.
I bet someone said that once about a four-peat lol.
I wonder if there are any legal experts making an argument to abolish the four year eligibility rule.
100 years from now when another pandemic hits it might happen again and people will be using archival technology to figure out who she is.
Unless something like Covid happens again, 5 peat is practically impossible.
4 peat has always been possible.
Not until they started allowing Freshman eligibility…1968 according to a quick Google search.