For the third straight season, the NC State men’s swimming and diving team finished fourth at the NCAA Championships, with senior Anton Ipsen, junior Andreas Vazaios and the 400-yard freestyle relay team all capturing individual national championships on the final day of competition Saturday in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Ipsen won the 1,650-yard freestyle, finishing nearly five seconds faster than the rest of the field with a time of 14:24.43, a program record. It marks the fourth straight year Ipsen has picked up All-American honors in the event, as he will leave the Pack as one of the most decorated swimmers in program history.
Vazaios won his national championship in the 200-yard butterfly, finishing in 1:38.60 to pick up an All-American nod in the event for the second year in a row and become the Pack’s second national champion of the day.
After breaking the NCAA and American record earlier in the day in prelims, the Wolfpack’s 400 free relay team captured gold to cap off a strong NCAA Championships. The team of senior Ryan Held, sophomore Coleman Stewart and juniors Jacob Molacek and Justin Ress bettered on its time from earlier in the day, posting a 2:44.31 to finish atop the podium.
The win in the 400 free relay gave the Pack five individual national championships on the week, the most in program history for one NCAA Championships. To go along with Ipsen, Vazaios and the 400 free relay team, Stewart won the 100-yard backstroke and the Pack won the 800-yard freestyle relay.
The Wolfpack also had a very strong showing in the 100-yard freestyle on Saturday, taking silver and bronze behind Florida swimmer Caeleb Dressel’s record-breaking first-place finish. Held finished second, posting a time of 41.08, with Ress capturing bronze with a 41.49.
Joining Held’s and Ress’ All-American honors in the 100 free was junior Jacob Molacek, who finished in fifth to wrap up the Pack taking three of the top five spots.
In the 200-yard backstroke, Stewart finished fourth in the ‘B’ final and senior Hennessey Stuart finished eighth, both picking up honorable mention All-American honors.
In the platform diving event, Pack sophomore James Brady wrapped up his first NCAAs with a 22nd-place finish in prelims. Brady posted a score of 315.60. The day’s other heat, the 200-yard breaststroke, didn’t feature an NC State swimmer.
The Wolfpack finished fourth as a team with 385 points, as Texas was crowned the national champions for the second straight year with 449 points. California finished in second, and Indiana came in third, 37 points clear of the Pack.
