ACC Meet Record
Both of the ACC meet records in the 800 freestyle relay went down tonight as the NC State men followed up the Virginia women as the men broke the record in a time of 6:08.35.
The team consisted of Sam Hoover, Lukas Miller, Eric Knowles, and Hunter Tapp. They broke the record of 6:09.82 which was set by NC State back in 2017.
| NC State 2022 | NC State 2017 | ||
| Sam Hoover | 1:32.62 | Andreas Vazaios | 1:33.31 |
| Lukas Miller | 1:31.03 | Ryan Held | 1:32.76 |
| Eric Knowles | 1:32.73 | Justin Ress | 1:32.05 |
| Hunter Tapp | 1:31.97 | Soeren Dahl | 1:31.70 |
Notably, second place finisher Louisville was just off of the meet record as the relay swam to a time of 6:09.85.
The biggest difference maker was that the previous record had only one man under 1:32 compared to today which had two men under 1:32.
Hoover’s lead off split of 1:32.62 moves him up from #57 to #5 (prior to today) in the NCAA as he swam a 1:35.02 at midseason.
All of the men will be competing in the individual 200 freestyle later in the meet. Lukas Miller is the top seed, Hunter Tapp is the #4 seed, Sam Hoover is the #12 seed, and Eric Knowles is the #13 seed.
SEC Overall and Meet Record
The Florida men also set a meet record in the 800 freestyle as they swam a time of 6:08.00. They also broke the overall SEC record. Kieran Smith led off in a 1:30.42 which would place him with the top time in the NCAA this year in the event.
The team of Smith, Trey Freeman, Oskar Lindholm, and Alfonso Mestre broke the previous SEC record of 6:09.14 which Florida set in 2019. They also broke the meet record of 6:09.91 which Florida set in 2020.
| Florida 2022 |
Florida 2019 SEC Record
|
||
| Kieran Smith | 1:30.42 | Khader Baqlah | 1:32.32 |
| Trey Freeman | 1:31.96 | Kieran Smith | 1:31.64 |
| Oskar Lindholm | 1:32.29 | Trey Freeman | 1:33.58 |
| Alfonso Mestre | 1:33.33 | Maxime Rooney | 1:31.60 |
The biggest difference was that both Kieran Smith and Trey Freeman swam over a second faster today than they did four years ago.
All four men will compete in the individual 200 freestyle later in the meet.
Notably, Georgia’s relay was also under the meet record as they swam to a time of 6:09.32 to finish second.
Both teams have the potential to have a showdown at NCAAs in the event. The biggest difference between the two teams is that Kieran Smith split a sub-1:31 and Mestre split a 1:33.33, whereas NC State had all four men split a 1:31-1:32.
Go Pack! 🐺