For students, winter break is a time of rest and relaxation, a sanctuary away from school and finals, the same goes for most athletes as well. During the latter half of December, athletes normally travel home for the holidays to spend time with family and close friends. However, select members of the NC State swimming & diving team have been busy as of late.
Although it is called “winter break,” three Pack swimmers have had anything but that.
Junior Anton Ipsen, senior Alexia Zevnik and alum Simonas Bilis competed for their respective countries at the 2016 FINA Short Course World Championships from Dec. 6 to Dec. 11 in Windsor, Canada.
On the world stage, the trio of Ipsen, Zevnik and Bilis brought back five medals from the World Championships, three gold and two bronze.
Ipsen competed in the 1500 freestyle for his home country Denmark. The distance specialist finished fourth overall with a final time of 14:31.53.
“Anton [Ipsen] had a great mile, and came in tonight and dug deep against the world record holder and two Olympic champions,” head coach Braden Holloway told NC State Athletics. “He did very well and walked away with the two fastest times he’s ever swam.”
Zevnik participated on four relays for her country, Canada, earning medals in three. The senior swam the second leg of the 4×50 mixed free relay in 24.28 in the prelims, giving her country the chance to place third in the final.
Zevnik swam the second leg in the prelims of the 4×50 and 4×200 free relays with times of 24.54 and 1:55.87 respectively. Canada would go on to win gold in both of the finals.
Bilis competed for Lithuania in the 50, 100 and 200 freestyle. Bilis finished 28th overall in the 200 with a time of 1:45.81. The sprinter performed incredibly in his signatures, the 50 and 100. He received the bronze medal in the 50 with a time of 21.23. In the semifinals, he touched in at 21.15, a national record for Lithuania.
The most-anticipated event of the meet for the Wolfpack was Bilis’ 100 freestyle final, where he earned gold in a time of 46.58, another Lithuanian national record. He out touched Shinri Shioura of Japan by one one-hundredth of a second.
“We’re very proud of our Wolfpackers who competed in Canada this week and represented their countries at the World Championships,” Holloway said. “Obviously the highlight of the meet was Simonas Bilis winning a gold medal in the 100 free. Hats off to the hard work he’s put in to achieve his goals, and congrats to coach Todd Desorbo for preparing him for that victory.
After two successful championship appearances, the swimming & diving team will look to start off the new year right in Knoxville at the Tennessee Diving Invitational beginning Jan. 3.
