A new season is upon the NC State swimming and diving team, as the Wolfpack will look to continue on its recent trend of domination. The season begins this Friday night at South Carolina.
The Wolfpack men open the season at No. 4 in the country, after finishing fourth at the NCAA Championships for the third year in a row last season. The NC State women will start the year at No. 11, coming off of five straight top-20 national finishes.
While continued national success is on the table yet again for the Pack, the domination of the ACC will also be on the forefront for the Wolfpack heading into this 2018-19 season.
NC State has won the ACC men’s title four years in a row, and is the heavy favorite to make it five this year. After winning the ACC in the 2016-17 season, the Wolfpack women fell back to third last season, but have the roster to compete for the conference title once again.
On the men’s side, the Pack will have to replace two of the program’s greatest all-time swimmers in Ryan Held and Anton Ipsen. Together, Held and Ipsen hold 7 of 14 individual NC State records. Add departed senior Hennessey Stuart’s school record in the 200-yard backstroke, and that is more than half of the school’s individual men’s records departing in one offseason.
Additionally, Held is on every school-record relay. With Held, Ipsen and Stuart departing, the Pack has a ton to replace. However, there’s no reason to believe that NC State will regress this season without those superstars, as the talent behind them is maybe just as good.
Leading the returning Wolfpack men are seniors Justin Ress, Andreas Vazaios and Jacob Molacek, as well as junior Coleman Stewart and sophomores Jack McIntyre and Eric Knowles. Vazaios is the star of this group. He holds school records in the 200-yard freestyle, individual medley and butterfly, and captured an NCAA title in the 200 fly last season.
Vazaios was named the ACC Men’s Swimmer of the Year last season, and capped off the year with his 200 fly national title as well as his second straight 800-yard freestyle relay NCAA title. Molacek and Ress were also on that 800 free relay team, and are both vital individual swimmers as well.
While Held dominated the 50-yard freestyle during his time at NC State, Ress has the school’s third-fastest time in the event and should fill into Held’s role as the main freestyle sprint man seamlessly.
To go along with Vazaios’ 200 fly NCAA title, Ipsen won the national championship in the 1,650-yard freestyle and Stewart won in the 100-yard backstroke. Stewart will return to NC State with a chance to defend that title, and will anchor a strong backstroke group for the Pack.
It will be McIntyre and Knowles taking over in the distance events, which they have excelled in already at NC State. Knowles holds the school’s third-fastest time in the 500-yard freestyle, while McIntyre is third-fastest in the 1,650 free.
With all of its returning talent, including the likes of guys who have had smaller roles in the past like sophomore Giovanni Izzo and senior Cobe Garcia, there is no reason to believe the Wolfpack men’s team will have any fall-off. An ACC title is likely for the Wolfpack men, and so is another top-five NCAA finish.
The Wolfpack women finished 18th at NCAAs last year, but return most of their talent back to the pool. The most significant departure for the NC State women is Hannah Moore, who ended her career with the Pack with a third-place finish in the 1,650 free at NCAAs. She leaves the school holding four individual records.
However, apart from Moore, most of the Wolfpack’s talent is back. Junior Ky-Lee Perry and senior Elise Haan lead the charge. Perry holds the school record in the 50-yard freestyle, and is one of the nation’s premiere sprint specialists. Haan finished fourth in the 100-yard backstroke at NCAAs, and holds the school record in the event.
To go along with Perry and Haan, sophomores Kate Moore and Tamila Holub return to help lead the Pack. Moore burst on the scene as a dangerous middle-distance swimmer last year, and should continue to build on that. Holub had success in the distance events in her freshman season, and sits second in school history in the 1,650 free and third in the 500 free.
The Wolfpack women should compete for an ACC title, along with the ever-talented Virginia Cavaliers. Another top-20 NCAA finish is also likely to come for the Wolfpack.
On the diving side of things, juniors Madeline Kline and James Brady are the names to watch. Kline and Brady had strong seasons last year, bringing up a diving team that has been average over the past few seasons. Brady qualified for the NCAA Championships in 3-meter and platform diving, while Kline qualified in platform.
