With yesterday’s NCAA announcement about the inclusion of the 100 IM in competition next year, it seems college swimming fever has re-awoken – if only briefly – for a summer spell.
That makes it perfect timing for this video to surface, which features two of the best sprinting programs in the nation going head to head in a relay after a joint training session.
Several members of the NC State Wolfpack have been in Austin, Texas this week, training with the reigning NCAA champion Texas Longhorns.
And after one of those joint practices, the two programs upped the ante, throwing down a post-practice, head-to-head 4×50 free relay with major bragging rights on the line.
We’ve got video of the race, which you can find above, courtesy of PackSwimAndDive on YouTube.
If you’ll recall, NC State qualified first out of heats in the short course version of this relay at the NCAA Championships back in March. They survived a prelims DQ scare after an appeal overturned a false start, then went on to blow out the field at finals – only to be slapped with another false start.
That moved the second-place finishers into gold medal position, and they were – you guessed it – the Texas Longhorns.
This video rematches the two teams in the long course variant of the event, and it’s equally entertaining.
The two programs swim to a deadlock, both touching in 1:29.8. Below is each program’s roster for the relay:
Texas: Matt Ellis, John Murray, Jack Conger, Joseph Schooling
NC State: Joe Bonk, Ryan Held, Soren Dahl, Simonas Bilis
There’s some turnover since NCAAs for both teams. Texas swaps out NCAA anchor Kip Darmody, now graduated, for rising Singapore star Joseph Schooling. NC State, meanwhile, shuffles its order and swaps out two legs. Graduated David Williams gives way to incoming Virginia Tech transfer Joe Bonk, and Andreas Schiellerup yields to Soren Dahl.
We’ve got splits on the NC State swimmers, with Bilis leading the way in a 21.9 anchor leg, forcing the tie. Bonk led off in 22.7, rising sophomore Held was 22.4 and Dahl was 22.7.
i think you are missing my point.
That “dq” in the morning should never have been called. It was a faulty touch pad (they had issues all week) thus it was easy to over turn.
To say they got DQd twice is simply not true. They never DQd in the morning.
The Wolfpack wins again, even with Texas and their DQ false start.
GO PACK!!!!
NC State are the experts on false starts, after all.
They only got DQ once at 2015 NCAA
This article says, “slapped with ANOTHER false start”. They didnt false start in the morning. Ie. Thats why they swam at night.
I’m pretty sure their morning DQ was overturned, and then they DQ’d later at night in the final.
Imagine how much different NCAA would be if it were long course. Personally, I’d find it much more exciting, because the big time winners would be presumably putting up big time swims in the pool that matters.
I’m already looking forward to the 2015-2016 college swim season! Hook ‘Em
There is a long course meet this weekend at UT, but only Longhorn women will be there, no boys. Noticed that Nick’s sister, Maggie D’Innocenzo, is entered as member of Longhorn Aquatics. Did she transfer to UT, from USC? When did that happen?
So I’ve got Texas at 1:30.15 hand timed
Ellis 23.2
Murray 17.4
Conger 22.2
Schooling 22.2 (probable false start)
Your splits total 1:25.00, I’m thinking Murray’s is not quite 17.4.
You must be new to Murray conversations
Sorry you’re right, no way Ellis was a 23.2. Re-hand timing it, I think he was a 28 mid and Murray was 17.5