Two of the top swimming & diving teams in the nation are preparing for a different type of battle—one that takes place out of the pool.
The men’s teams from NC State and the University of Florida will inevitably collide in late March at the NCAA Championships, but prior to that, they’ll engage in a friendly game of Fortnite Battle Royale.
NC State freshman David Curtiss, the team’s official ‘coach’ for the event, told SwimSwam that the Wolfpack and Gators have agreed to a friendly 8v8 tournament-style game with bragging rights on the line.
Each team will select their top eight players to compete against the other, with the game’s objective to be the last player standing. In a group battle like this one, whichever team the last player standing is on will win the match.
For more on how the game works, click here.
Curtiss says the objective for the match is simply some pre-championship fun and to promote friendly team interactions outside of the pool—something that’s been difficult for the swimmers to do over the last two years due to the pandemic.
“I think a fun little competition like the one we are going to have next week will be a great one for the sport of swimming, as we often only focus on the swimming relationship between teams,” Curtiss said. “Now we can take a step back, have some fun, and compete outside the water in a video game all of us can play. Super excited to see how this unfolds.”
The matchup is scheduled for this coming Wednesday, Feb. 9, at 7 PM (EST).
The following Twitch streams will be available for viewing for a first-person perspective from some of the NC State players:
NC State’s roster for the battle is below. We’ll update with Florida’s once we get confirmation.
NC STATE ROSTER
- Aiden Hayes
- John Healy
- Noah Henderson
- Luke Miller
- Michael Moore
- James Plage
- Kacper Stokowski
- Austin Winchester
NC State captain Giovanni Izzo added: “I’m excited about it because we can bring swimming (competition) outside the water. It was fun the other night, playing to figure out the squad, and I think my team is ready to go and take on Florida.”
The Florida men will compete at the SEC Championships Feb. 15-19 at the University of Tennessee, while NC State is preparing to race on the same dates at the ACC Championships at Georgia Tech.
The Gators and Wolfpack will then go head-to-head inside the pool at men’s NCAAs, also taking place in Atlanta at Georgia Tech, March 23-26.
Cute the kids want to play. Masters swimmers have decades of experience prepping for this. Old man strength is undefeated
I’d love to see a boomer play fortnite
Nobody cares
Yeah that’s why Braden tweeted this article was getting more reaction than the FINA announcement. Maybe you don’t care but don’t project. You may be 20 or not but you sound like a Boomer.
Did you just assume my age?
Ohio State men could sweep any ncaa team in clash of clans war no debate.
I’ve played Fortnite with John Healy before, he just hides in a bush and waits. He has no idea how to build in a boxfight, can have ample materials but still yells “no mats”. Seems like an excuse to me. He has been nicknamed “the college textbook” as he is always in the backpack and ends up never being useful. Best of luck to NC State, they will need it.
Still better than swimming in chlorine (which destroys your skin cells and burns you alive).
I agree with TFUE. Mikey Moore once cried on the mic when I hit the Orange Justice over his dead body after I squad wiped him and the NC State swimmers with my pickaxe for a victory royale.
Megladon cries on the mic
Surprising to see John Healy added to the NC State Roster. Healy is a certified Bot. He ranked in at #17 in ESPN’s bottom 100 Fortnite players of all time in 2021. John’s favorite gun is the grey burst and you can often find him crying alone beneath the trees of wailing woods. Look out for multiple default dance breaks and a an absolute atrocious KD ratio.
Crazy that Noah Henderson is making an appearance. Difficult to see his contributions to the team while struggling to build walls and ramps in the same encounter. He’s missed the last 83 consecutive sniper shots and 9 with a shotgun.
Also shocked to see Luke Miller in this tourney. He lost an easy dub when he fell out of his chair and went AFK for a brief moment. It was recently featured on Fox Gaming Sports Not Top 25 and it was the worst failure since Mark Sanchez and the butt fumble. His failure to be clutch is likely to cause a toxic environment if the match is at all close.