Will Gallant from Canton, Connecticut has announced his intention to transfer to North Carolina State University next fall. He wrote on social media:
“Excited and humbled to announce my commitment to further my swim and academic career at NC State! Thank you to my friends and family for giving me support along the way!”
Gallant spent his freshman year at Indiana University in 2019-20. He announced he was entering the NCAA Transfer Portal in October, saying, “I would like to thank my former teammates at Indiana and their amazing coaching staff for such a tremendous opportunity. I’m extremely grateful for everything and I wish them best of luck in the future.” Gallant left Bloomington earlier this fall and moved to Mission Viejo, California, where he has been training with the Nadadores. At the time, the distance and mid-distance freestyle specialist had best times of 1:40.9/4:20.0/8:56.4/14:49.0 in the 200/500/1000/1650 freestyles. In December, he lowered the first three of those times to 1:39.5, 4:19.4, and 8:48.0.
In November, competing at the multi-site U.S. Open in Irvine, Gallant updated his LCM times in the 400/800/1500 free and 400 IM. He posted the 2nd-fastest 1500m free (15:18.39) and 6th-fastest 800m free (8:02.15) times overall. He also went PBs in the 400m free (3:53.61) and 400 IM (4:28.32). His 400/800/1500 free times are all Olympic Trials standards.
Best SCY times:
- 200 free – 1:39.52
- 500 free – 4:19.41
- 1000 free – 8:48.04
- 1650 free – 14:49.00
Gallant will join NC State’s class of 2024 with have three years of remaining eligibility. At Indiana last season, he placed fifth in the 1650 free (15:00.07) and was 13th in the 500 free (4:21.35) at the 2020 B1G Championships. His new PB of 14:49 would have moved him up two spots, while a 4:19 would have qualified him for the A final of the 500. At 2020 ACC Championships, his 14:49 mile time would have ranked behind the Wolfpack’s Ross Dant (3rd with 14:37.69) and Eric Knowles (4th, 14:47.94). He will spent two years with Dant.
Also joining the Wolfpack next fall will be incoming freshmen Aiden Hayes, Arsenio Bustos, David Curtiss, Garrett Boone, Nathan Kempiak, Noe Ponti, and Sam Hoover.
With this incoming class, NC State is going to cut their way into the number 1 spot like a rusty machete
Wolfpack Distance 🐺🐺
The Reloading continues.
Has the other IU swimmer in the portal made a decision for next year? I believe it was Jakub Karl
Alabama
Oops. This didn’t age well. Feel bad for Jakub.
Turnstile U. continues in Bloomington…
as other have commented already it is not straightforward, Looze seems to be lightning rod here….
And Norgaard reclassified to come next year. Sprint U may still be Sprint U but Bernardino has it looking like Distance U now!
Dino collecting good milers like infinity stones.
NC State next year could be up there with Texas and Cal, which honestly will be nice to see.
To be fair, and I mean this respectfully, NC has been at their level for years now. They just need to stop comparing themselves to UT and Cal and do their own thing. That’s what got them to this level in the first place.
I say this with huge respect for what Holloway has built at NCST — and they are a consistent top-5 team now that wins relays and wins events — but NCST has not been (and isn’t yet) on the level of Texas & Cal. Not only do they not have a title this century, they don’t even have a top-3 finish. Still work to be done.
Typically “at their level” means accomplishing the same things on a somewhat consistent basis. So, no, they are not “at their level for years now” and, quite frankly, never have been. 🐻
Message received. I’ll make note of that in my diary.
Give this incoming class a couple years. It may not be next year where they compete with those teams, but more like 2022/2023. The incoming NCS guys are ridiculous for HS, but they still have to improve to make an impact on the NCAA level, and improvements are far from guaranteed in collegiate swimming (although I have a feeling the Pack freshmen next year will do well).
Nc state is a badass team and the guys are great people. The next class will be crazy but so will Texas and cal will. Even if they only have 2-3 kids they are hard hitters
I agree. Competition is good for everyone. Also, I think strong Indiana and NC State favor Texas, due to Texas’ depth.