NC State Breaks Own ACC Championship Meet Record in the 200 Free Relay (1:14.29)

by Claire Wong 6

February 19th, 2025 ACC, College, News

2025 ACC SWIMMING AND DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

MEN’S 200 FREE RELAY – TIMED FINALS

  • NCAA Record: 1:13.35, Florida – 2023 NCAA Championships
  • ACC Record: 1:14.13, NC State – 2024 NCAA Championships
  • ACC Championship Record: 1:14.44, NC State – 2023
  • NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 1:16.80
  • NCAA ‘B’ Cut: 1:17.13

Top 8:

  1. NC State – 1:14.29
  2. Cal – 1:15.10
  3. Virginia Tech – 1:15.53
  4. Stanford – 1:15.79
  5. FSU – 1:15.86
  6. UNC – 1:15.88
  7. Virginia – 1:16.61
  8. SMU – 1:16.74

While Cal made a strong debut last night, winning and setting meet records in both relays and consequently dethroning NC State in the 200 medley relay, NCSU responded tonight with a win in their signature event, the 200 freestyle relay. The quartet of Quintin McCarty, Jerry Fox, Larry Salls, and Luke Miller clocked in at 1:14.29—nearly a full second ahead of Cal’s 1:15.10. Although this time was just over a tenth of a second shy of their American Record, which was set at last year’s NCAA Championships, it shaved a tenth off of the ACC Championship Meet Record (and previous American Record), which was also set last year.

Splits Comparison:

Splits NC State – 2024 NCAA Championships (Current American Record) NC State – 2024 ACC Championships (Previous Meet Record) NC State – 2025 ACC Championships (New Meet Record)
1st Leg Noah Henderson (18.93) Quintin McCarty (18.93) Quintin McCarty (18.78)
2nd Leg Luke Miller (18.23) Larry Salls (18.53) Jerry Fox (18.40)
3rd Leg Jerry Fox (18.44) Noah Henderson (18.45) Larry Salls (18.43)
4th Leg Quintin McCarty (18.53) Luke Miller (18.53) Luke Miller (18.68)
FINAL TIME 1:14.13 1:14.44 1:44.29

NC State’s record-breaking relay at the 2025 ACC Championships featured three returning swimmers from last year’s squad, though the lineup has evolved depending on which record you compare it to. Following last year’s ACC Championships, NC State swapped Larry Salls for Jerry Fox in the NCAA lineup. However, with the graduation of Noah Henderson, who was on both relays, the Wolfpack opted to utilize both Salls and Fox.

One of the key factors in NC State’s new meet record was Quintin McCarty’s lead-off split of 18.78, which was over a tenth faster than both his own and Noah Henderson’s 18.93 from last year’s ACC and American records. This improvement, combined with Jerry Fox’s 18.40 second leg, provided the decisive edge that pushed this year’s team below the previous ACC meet record. For the third leg, Larry Salls’ split (18.43) matched both Fox’s from the American Record and Henderson’s from the previous meet record. Luke Miller, the anchor, was just over a tenth slower compared to his own split from last year and McCarty’s anchor leg in the American Record swim. Interestingly, it was Miller’s split at NCAA’s last year that was most crucial in helping the Wolfpack break the American record.

This performance was a huge improvement from their 200 free relay at their midseason Wolfpack Elite Invite, where Salls (19.50), Fox (18.72), Kaii Winkler (18.98), and Sam Hoover (18.82) combined for a 1:16.02. Salls was nearly a second faster tonight, and Fox was over 3 tenths quicker. McCarty and Miller were, however, notably absent from that relay.

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PFA
1 day ago

I believe this breaks UVA’s American record

NC Fan
Reply to  PFA
1 day ago

Nope. NC State record from last year

SwimBear
Reply to  PFA
1 day ago

NC state has the American record

TidalCessPool1979
1 day ago

Yawn, still 4 body lengths behind Tennessee

Bootsie T
Reply to  TidalCessPool1979
1 day ago

So mean for what?

MigBike
Reply to  TidalCessPool1979
1 day ago

The MAN VOLS rock