On a Saturday evening in March, in front of a packed house of swimming fans, then-junior Andreas Vazaios splashed into the water of the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota for the final individual race of the 2018 NCAA Championships.
That race was the 200-yard butterfly, and just 1:38.60 after leaving his starting block, Vazaios touched the wall as an NCAA champion. It was the perfect ending to what had already been a historic season for Vazaios, who was named the ACC Male Swimmer of the Year after picking up gold in the 200-yard individual medley and competing in two relays at the ACC Championships.
Vazaios came home from Minneapolis with more than just his 200 fly trophy as well, as he swam the opening leg of NC State’s NCAA record-breaking performance in the 800-yard freestyle relay. It marked the second year in a row that the Wolfpack, and Vazaios, won the 800 free relay at NCAAs, but that doesn’t mean the now-senior Vazaios is satisfied.
“It’s a great experience. NCAA and collegiate swimming is way different than I’ve ever experienced before, because you are not racing for yourself or for your country,” Vazaios said. “You know that when you get on the blocks you are racing for the whole team. You are racing for each individual athlete that is in the bleachers waiting for your race. That being said, that motivates me to get better and get faster to be better for the next year.”
That team-first mentality is one of the main reasons that Vazaios found his way to NC State from his home of Athens, Greece. A two-time CSCAA Scholar All-American, coming to the United States to swim and go to school was important, and there was something special about the Wolfpack’s brotherhood that drew him to Raleigh.
“The reason that I chose NC State is that we have the family aspect that I couldn’t find at any other university. That was what I really wanted to have every day,” Vazaios said. “Since I came here, there really hasn’t been a day that I’ve felt homesick at all. They hugged me, they included me in their family and in the family of NC State swimming and diving … They wanted me as a person in general, and they included me in their family.”
Vazaios has become a key part of that family, and entering his final season he is an undisputed leader of an NC State team that has the talent to make a run for an NCAA title yet again.
As a senior, and now team captain, Vazaios is fully embracing his leadership role on a team that is looking to replace a special senior class that departed following the 2017-18 season. With leaders and Olympians Ryan Held and Anton Ipsen, among others, gone, head coach Braden Holloway is turning to his new group of seniors to pave the way.
“We lost an unbelievable amount of leadership,” Holloway said. “So Andreas’ role, along with the other captains, is pretty vital to make sure we continue to move forward with our traditions and our expectations as a program. I definitely think there are big shoes to fill for him and the other captains.”
And while that leadership role is being fully thrown on Vazaios this season, it isn’t something that has always been there. Holloway said that he has always known Vazaios was a phenomenal swimmer, and while he has seen growth in him in the pool, it is somewhere else that Vazaios has really grown during his time with the Wolfpack.
“I think the biggest area where we’ve seen him grow is as a leader,” Holloway said. “In Europe, they don’t so much have a team concept, and then when you come to America it’s all about team. To see him embrace that mindset and run with it, and then see the way his teammates feel about him, it’s just been really cool to see.”
While Holloway is impressed with Vazaios as a leader, and as a person overall, he has also become pretty special in the pool as well. With three NCAA titles, nine All-American honors, six ACC titles and the ACC Male Swimmer of the Year trophy all filling up his list of accolades, Vazaios is quickly becoming one of the most decorated swimmers in the history of a prestigious program.
Vazaios has the fastest time in NC State history in three events, including that NCAA title-winning 200 fly, and is on the fastest team in program history in one relay. His name is all over the Wolfpack record books, and that is something that means a lot to Vazaios.
“It’s just a reward of what I’ve done throughout the years and throughout the season,” Vazaios said. “Knowing that I have created something for the next generations that want to come here at NC State, and that they want to try to beat me to get faster. It’s just a great reward for me. I want this team, even when I graduate, to keep thriving and to keep winning at ACCs and eventually win at NCAAs. It’s just super amazing to have individual records.”
Now Vazaios has one final season to improve on those records and add to his accolades, and he is fully focused on becoming a better swimmer. NC State’s men have finished fourth at NCAAs three years in a row, and have collected five straight ACC titles. For Vazaios and his team, getting better to continue that trend is always on the agenda.
“We want to get better. We want to win ACCs again. We want to keep creating that legacy, and keep being the best school in the ACC,” Vazaios said. “We deserve it. We have lots of talent and we have passion and we are eager and humble to just get better. We have that mentality every day that we have practice. I know that one of the goals is to win at ACCs and win at NCAAs.”
That team-first mentality is what drives NC State, and what drives Vazaios. It is something that is preached throughout the program, and the results prove that things are working. And while that team mentality is on the forefront right now, there is something else that the swimmer from the birthplace of the Olympics is striving for in his future.
“My individual goal is technically to be better than last year,” Vazaios said. “I’m building up each year because my long-term goal is Tokyo 2020, the Olympics. Right now, each year and each day for me is to just get better for the NCAA perspective and then longer term for the Olympics.”
