2018 ACC MEN’S CHAMPIONSHIPS
- When: Wednesday, February 21st to Saturday, February 24th | Prelims 10:00am | Finals 6:00pm
- Where: Greensboro Aquatics Center, Greensboro, NC (Eastern Time Zone)
- Defending Champion: NC State Wolfpack (results) fix
- Psych Sheet: here
- Live Results: here
- Streaming: WatchESPN (subscription required)
- Championship Central: here
The Wolfpack may not be fully tapered, some of their stars may still have beards, and it may be the end of a long four days of competition, but that didn’t seem to matter much to the NC State quartet of Ryan Held, Justin Ress, Jacob Molacek, and Coleman Stewart, who wrapped up the competition by blasting a pool-shaking time of 2:45.69.
That time is also an American Record, knocking well over a second off of the previous mark of 2:47.02 that Texas set way back in 2009. That appears to have been the sole SCY men’s American Record from the supersuit era.
Held led off with a 41.45, just a hair off of his time in the individual 100 free earlier tonight. Ress blasted an incredibly rare sub-41 split (40.87). Molacek turned in a “very solid” 41.71, while Stewart, primarily known for his backstroke prowess, kicked almost to the 15m mark on each turn to deliver a 41.66 anchor leg.
That’s now the 2nd-fastest time ever in the event, ranking only behind the 2:45.39 the Texas Longhorns recorded at last year’s NCAA championship meet. That relay’s time doesn’t count as an American Record, because it included Joe Schooling, who represents Singapore internationally. NC State is also the 2nd team ever to break 2:46, as the longstanding record that went down last March was a 2:46.03 that Auburn swam in 2009.
40.87 split !!!! I am speechless
Justin Ress is just having a WOW Meet as well as all the others on that Team . Impressive guys !!! He is normally a backstroker if i am not mistaken ( 50 back in Budapest ) , but Jeez , his freestyle seems to be flying recently .
He hasn’t been doing backstroke much for the Pack this year since they have a fair few backstrokers (Coleman Stewart in particular). Ress’s prowess in the 100 and 200 definitely give him a shot at making the Pan Pacs team on both relays for Team USA, though.
Texas might not win a relay this year
Their 4×50 and 4×100 free relays have a pretty decent chance to win.
4×100:
Jackson – 41.2
Ringgold – 41.2
Haas – 41.0
Schooling – 41.0 = 2:44.4!
4×50:
Jackson – 18.9
Ringgold – 18.5 (he’s been 18 high flat start)
Haas – 18.5? (Texas class relays he dropped an 18.7 at some point)
Schooling – 18.3 = 1:14.2
That’s being insanely generous to Ringgold, Haas, and Schooling for the 400 relay
Insanely aggressive? Wrong. Do your research or you look ignorant.
Last year Ringgold went a 41.77 in the Indv event.
And Haas split 41.01 and Schooling split 41.02. Conger went “only” a 41.30 split. Tate Jackson just surpassed that from a flat start.
The NCST-TX battle for the 400 FR will be epic!
Tate Jackson is going 41.2 flat start and couldn’t even make the TX relay last year! They have a great shot to go 2:44. And NCST may go even faster. EPIC
Ringgold just split 41.2 tonight at Big 12. So the 41.2 prediction is actually very conservative. He will likely be 40-point at NCAAs. They could very easily do a 41.2 leadoff (Jackson) followed by 3 straight 40s.
Texas obviously all in for the Big 12 this year. I doubt we see any time drops come NCAAs.
We all want to see that battle – thats why we love swimming
Will never happen. The speed simply isn’t there. Schooling and Haas are not sprinters but one can always dream.
41.0 splits last year. Yes. No speed.
Are u sure Haas can’t sprint ( 2 times within the 47 range in Budapest – one of the best in relays for Team Usa in LC )
With a -0.02 relay exchange. Almost cost the USA a medal.
Schooling 3rd in the 50 at NCAAs in 18.7. Split 19.3 in the fly. Not a sprinter? Lol
Always great to see tons of Texas followers on NCS State articles. Go PACK!!!!
Schooling and Haas might go sub 41. Last year both went 41.02 and 41.01 respectively. And take note, it is Schooling’s off year yet he swam so fast..
The one caveat on Schooling is that he didn’t have to do a finals 200 fly last year. Heh.
Still have beards? Wow at NCAA’s they will each probably go 38/39 if they shave.
NCSU definitely going to be in the mix at NCAA’s. This Hoo will be rooting for them
As well as my Wahoos at the meet
Hard to see anyone matching Cal this year, but NCS has a shot. This performance was phenomenal.
Justin Ress is on fire. I hope he doesn’t burn out-because if he keeps improving like this-well, he’s flexible. We’ll see this year
Us Trials in June should be a great meet with new surprises – can’t wait
HECK YA BOBBY GUNTORO
So happy for one of the nicest dudes out there!
What nationality is Bobby Guntoro?
He is Indonesian
Bobby Guntoro is one of the nicest guys you can meet, but hell of a tough coach. You can be tough but passionate and caring at the same time, and NCSU definitely has that environment with their staff.
NCAAs… Here comes the pack. Hoping to move up in those rankings… And win more than one title this year.