WATCH: 2 American Records Fall At 2022 ACCs Day 2 (RACE VIDEOS)

2022 ACC SWIMMING AND DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• When: Tuesday, February 15th to Saturday, February 19th Prelims 10:00am | Finals 6:00 pm (Tuesday 11:00am/4:30pm)
• Where: McAuley Aquatic Center, Atlanta Georgia (Eastern Time Zone)
• Defending Champions
  • Women: University of Virginia (17x) (results)
  • Men: University of Louisville (1x) (results)
• Streaming: ACC Network
  • Tuesday (prelims/finals)
  • Wednesday (prelims/finals)
  • Thursday (prelims/finals)
  • Friday (prelims/finals)
  • Saturday (prelims/1650s/finals)
• Championship Central: Here
• Detailed Timeline: Here
• Psych Sheets: Here
• Live Results
• FULL DAY 2 FINALS RECAP

The Virginia Cavaliers sprint groups started off hot on Wednesday at the 2022 ACC Men’s & Women’s Swimming & Diving Championships.

The women opened the meet with a new US Open, NCAA, ACC, and school record in the 200 free relay, and the men followed not far behind with an unexpected American Record in their 200 free relay.

Note: this videos post contains truncated versions of event recaps. For the full recaps, click the FULL RECAP link above.

Women’s 200 Free Relay – FINAL

Top 3:

1. Virginia – 1:24.47
2. NC State – 1:26.51
3. Louisville – 1:27.08

Virginia’s quartet featured two 2020 US Olympians in Kate Douglass and Alex Walsh. Douglass led off in a 21.10, which broke the ACC meet record, and Walsh followed with a 21.38 split. However, it was Gretchen Walsh (20.58) who had the fastest split of the night and helped erase Cal’s 2019 record from the board.

Virginia’s relay broke every record in the book, including the ACC, Conference, American, NCAA, and US Open Record.

Top 3:

1. Virgina – 1:14.47
2. NC State – 1:14.59
3. Louisville – 1:15.98

The UVA men followed up with what the women accomplished, which was defeating NC State in the 200 free relay in American Record fashion.

Matt Brownstead led off in 18.87, then Matt King (18.49), freshman Connor Boyle (18.63), and August Lamb (18.48) split three 18-mids to record the fastest time ever by a quartet of American swimmers.

This time, NC State kept it much closer, only finishing as the runner up by about a tenth of a second. NC State was the only other relay that had 4 men split 18 seconds, and UVA and NC State now hold the two fastest times in the nation.

For NC State, David Curtiss led off in 18.79, followed by Noah Henderson (18.46), Nyls Korstanje (18.54) and Kacper Stokowski (18.80) as NC State finished in 1:14.59.

Women’s 500 Free – FINALS

Top 3:

1. Emma Weyant (Virginia) – 4:37.23
2. Liberty Williams (Louisville) – 4:38.82
3. Maddie Donohoe (Virgina) – 4:41.61

Top-seeded Liberty Williams of Louisville took the early lead, but Virginia’s Emma Weyant took control by the 150 and never relinquished the lead. Williams tried to bring it back, closing in 55.4 over the final 100 yards, but it was Weyant who ended up winning by well over a second with a time of 4:37.23.

Virginia’s Maddie Donohoe was able to catch Virginia Tech’s Reka Gyorgy to pick up 27 additional points for the Cavaliers.

Men’s 500 Free – FINALS

Top 3:

1. Ross Dant (NC State) – 4:10.35
2. James Plage (NC State) – 4:12.57
3. Will Gallant (NC State) – 4:12.99

WOMEN’S 200 IM – FINALS

Top 3:

1. Alex Walsh (Virginia) – 1:52.38
2. Sarah Foley (Duke) – 1:54.47
3. Abby Arens (NC State) – 1:55.16

Virginia sophomore Alex Walsh swam a very smooth 1:52.38 to take win here by over two seconds. That’s a bit off of her best time of 1:51.53, which ranks her as #5 all-time in the event.

MEN’S 200 IM – FINALS

Top 3:

1. Carles Coll Marti (Virginia Tech) – 1:40.67
2. Daniel Sos (Louisville) – 1:42.74
3. Giovanni Izzo (NC State) – 1:42.97

NC State’s Giovanni Izzo has hitherto been known primarily as a sprint freestyler, so it wasn’t too shocking to see him take an early lead, as he went out in 21.7. And while Izzo held on perhaps surprisingly well, he was no match for Virginia Tech’s Carles Coll Marti. The sophomore took control on the breaststroke leg, and then extended his lead, stopping the clock in 1:40.67.

That time is now the fastest in the NCAA this season, and also broke a meet record previous held by NC State’s Andreas Vazaios. That’s the first win in this event for Virginia Tech since Brandon Fiala won back-to-back titles in 2015 and 2016.

Race Video Not Available

WOMEN’S 50 FREE – FINALS

Top 3:

1. Kate Douglass (Virginia) – 21.00
2. Gretchen Walsh (Virginia) – 21.04
3. Grace Countie (North Carolina) – 21.45

This promised to be a thrilling race, and sure enough, the UVA tandem of Kate Douglass and Gretchen Walsh did not disappoint. The pair both swam a 21.25 in this morning’s prelims, setting a new meet record, but they both had more in the tank.

Douglass got her hand on the wall first tonight, touching in 21.00. That’s the 2nd-fastest performance ever, behind only Abbey Weitzeil’s 20.90 from 2019. Walsh, meanwhile, moves up to the #4 performer all-time with #6 all-time swim of 21.04.

UNC’s Grace Countie knocked 0.63s off of her time from last year’s A-final, taking 3rd in 21.45 after tying for 4th with a 22.08 last season.

MEN’S 50 FREE – FINALS

Top 3:

1. David Curtiss (NC State) – 18.74
2. Haridi Sameh (Louisville) – 18.83
3. Youssef Ramadan (Virginia Tech) – 18.87

A freshman won this event for the second year in a row, as NC State’s David Curtiss shaved 0.03s off of his prelims time to win with a 18.74 in a thrilling race. He now ranks 3rd in the NCAA this season.