Junior swimmer Dylan Citta will transfer from North Carolina to UNC-Wilmington next season.
“The (UNCW) Seahawks are on the rise,” Citta told SwimSwam of his decision.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CrG7jlJJMh7/?hl=en
Citta is primarily a breaststroker and scored 4 points at the 2023 ACC Championships via a 21st place finish in the 100 breaststroke. That was one place better than he finished as a freshman.
Times Progression:
| HS Best | Freshman Year |
Sophomore Year
|
|
| 100 breast | 54.91 | 53.67 | 53.64 |
| 200 breast | 2:02.08 | 2:00.00 | 1:59.57 |
Citta’s 200 breaststroke season best in 2022-2023 came at the mid-season Tennessee Invitational; at ACCs, he added almost five seconds, swimming 2:04.29, though he did go a best time in the 100 breast at ACCs.
Citta was also the breaststroke leg on UNC’s medley relays. He split 23.72 on the Tar Heels’ 7th-place 200 medley relay and 53.40 on their 6th place 400 medley relay.
He should make an instant impact for the Seahawks next season. His best time in the 100 breaststroke would have finished 4th at the CAA Championships last season, and his best time in the 200 breaststroke would have finished 6th, for 28 individual points.
UNCW already has a good breaststroke group – their incumbent, Noah Sipowski, who was a sophomore last year, split 24.05 on the team’s 200 medley relay and 53.73 on the team’s 400 medley relay. David Fitch was 4th at the CAA Championships in 53.87, and Sipowski was 6th in 54.16.
Citta’s bests in the sprint breaststroke events are a little better than both of those guys, but with all three entering their junior years, it should make for a good internal competition next season.
UNC will reload next season in the breaststrokes. Among a very good incoming freshman class for the Tar Heels is Ben Delmar (54.29/1:55.09) and Tuck Valliere (55.09/2:00.53) to fill that void.
The two schools competed head-to-head in an early season dual meet last October, with the UNC Tar Heels winning 195-100.
Citta is a native of Toms River, New Jersey where he attended Toms River High School South.
All the negative comments here are very interesting. My son went to a camp there when he was 14 and this was his “dream school” for years. He was recruited by schools all over the country. UNC communicated with him regularly and then “ghosted” him – and would not return emails or texts, I guess once their roster was full (with swimmers slower than he was). He had a 4.2 gpa, so that was not the issue and his swim coach contacted them multiple times with glowing recommendations of his dedication and desire of UNC as his top choice. He ended up at a top 10 SEC school, so I guess it was their loss, but he was very disheartened… Read more »
lol
Totally unrelated but andrew was a much better manager than Alec. Only if I’m being honest… thanks!
Radkov to UVA?
As someone on the team, a lot of people that were cut this year because they broke multiple team rules on multiple occasions, were rude and disrespectful to teammates and coaches and were toxic for the team. They were given more chances than they should have been. No one is “leaving” because of the coaching, they are being cut because they aren’t meeting the expectations of this team, the team that Mark is trying to create. It’s a buy in mentality, and a few people weren’t buying in, so they got cut.
I hope more team members come forward like this. A bunch have been in Mark’s office thanking him for his actions. When you host parties on the night before a practice and get drunk how are you supposed to get the benefit of those practices and improve? It is a privilege to wear your team logo and colors. If you want to honor the opportunity your given you must play by the rules. Taking up space on a team benefits no one.
I’ve heard of nobody in his office thanking him. I’ve heard of people in his office arguing with him. His actions have caused an uproar in the team that has led to heated team meetings almost every day, both with and without the coaches – especially on the men’s side.
As another swimmer currently on the team, I feel like I need to play Devil’s advocate to you here. Since August 2022, which is when our training cycle officially restarted for the NCAA season, we have had a total of 11 athletes leave the combined Men’s and Women’s program. Two of these people, one man and one woman, quit on their own. However, the other nine were all kicked off the program over the course of two days in the week following Men’s NCAAs. Three of these removals were due to excess rule breaking, however the other six lost their places because Mark Gangloff did not believe that they had a chance of providing for the team, even though all… Read more »
All facts here.
Y’all obviously have zero idea what’s going on within the program and it is comical. People forget that being a student athlete on scholarship comes with rules, and actions have consequences. No hate to anyone but maybe stop blaming the program and coaching staff for swimmers that take their opportunity for granted.
Even if you don’t look at everything happing with cuts and people leaving, the swimmers consistently score less points at ACCs every year.
Those who still believe the program is thriving under Gangloff need to take a look at what is actually happening on the team. He preaches team values that he doesn’t uphold himself, he claims the team has a family environment yet continues to make decisions that are tearing this “family” apart, and he very clearly picks favorites and treats some of his swimmers with disrespect . He cut nearly ten athletes from the roster with absolutely no warning, and without considering the toll this could take on a young student athlete. Some of these cuts were made due to lack of improvement from the athlete ,which is comical when considering it is a coaches job to help athletes improve, not… Read more »
** pulls up a chair, pops some popcorn **