The Wolfpack entered the 2021-22 swim and dive season with incredibly high expectations, as it has for the past three years or so.
Spearheaded by head coach Braden Holloway, a slew of talented athletes were slated to rake in major ACC points and make appearances at NCAAs: freshmen Caroline and Grace Sheble, high school fly phenom Aiden Hayes and David Curtiss, to name a few. With the addition of such gifted swimmers, the sky was the limit for NC State’s swim team.
That being said, even the best and brightest will inevitably hit some bumps in the road. Before the season officially began, Olympic medalist and arguably NC State’s best recruit, Noe Ponti, made the decision to leave NC State and opted to train in his home country of Switzerland instead, citing mental fatigue in the months after his third-place performance in Tokyo.
It’s an unfortunate truth that NC State’s freshman class didn’t perform quite as well as expected this season, especially on the men’s side. Curtiss’ 18.77 50-yard freestyle made him the fourth-fastest NCAA freshman in history in the event and an ACC champion to boot, but he faltered at NCAAs, posting 19.22 in finals.
Hayes also had a somewhat rocky start to the season, oftentimes front-loading the 200-yard butterfly and falling short in the final 50, but came back to garner some major points in the 100-yard butterfly at ACCs and NCAAs, setting the 17-18 national age group record in the process.
Despite Ponti’s absence and a somewhat underwhelming performance from the freshman during the regular season, the men’s team cruised through an undefeated regular season. Granted, they didn’t face the toughest competition out there — Duke and UNC-Wilmington simply aren’t on the same level — but a win’s a win.
On the other hand, the women experienced two losses over the regular season — an unexpected figure, but the losses came against Virginia and Texas, two of the top three teams in the country.
The women’s team did win handily against No. 5 Tennessee earlier on in the season, but I would have liked to see some close matches throughout the regular season. It’s unreasonable to think that Stanford would make it all the way out to Raleigh for a random meet in January, but Ohio State or Alabama would have been riveting competitors.
In the meantime, I’ll keep my fingers crossed for a top-five showdown next season, assuming that NC State retains its position in next season’s rankings.
And speaking of next season, most Division I-worthy high school graduates have already committed, which means we have a pretty good idea of the talent NC State will bring in. North Carolina natives Michael Cotter and Lance Norris will join the Wolfpack as freshmen this fall.
Cotter’s strongest events are the 200- and 500-yard freestyle events, while Norris specializes in distance freestyle. They’ll certainly add to NC State’s already strong freestyle roster, although the depth of talent joining the team next season isn’t quite as strong as last season’s recruits.
I was keeping my fingers crossed that Olympian and all-around sprint phenom Claire Curzan would stay in state and choose the Wolfpack for the next four years, but you can’t always get what you wish for. She, alongside club teammate Charlotte Hook, will join Stanford this fall as the top two recruits in the country.
This will certainly put Virginia’s NCAA winning streak in contention, but NC State’s chances of finishing on top will remain slim. That being said, the Wolfpack will see the likes of Kennedy Noble and Katherine Helms, two well-rounded swimmers from Arizona and Virginia, respectively.
As for the top athletes NC State will retain, its men’s distance dream team of junior Ross Dant and sophomores Will Gallant and James Plage will return for the 2022-23 season. Although they’ll be losing graduate student Eric Knowles, he was by no means the fastest member of that distance squad — I’ll be more concerned to see Dant go when he graduates.
As the third-place finisher in the 800-meter freestyle in Olympic Trials last June and a clear leader of the men’s team this year, Dant’s talent will almost certainly be one of the Wolfpack’s many strengths during championship season next year.
However, when it comes down to the best swimmer NC State will see for at least one more year, look no further than junior Katharine Berkoff. Following in her dad’s footsteps, Berkoff defended her national title in the 100-yard backstroke last month and broke the American, NCAA, meet, U.S. Open and pool records in the process.
Furthermore, Berkoff took home two gold medals and one bronze medal in last December’s World Swimming Championships in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. There’s absolutely no telling what kinds of records Berkoff will break over the summer and next year, but she certainly isn’t slowing down anytime soon.
Although NC State’s retainment of Berkoff is a huge boost to the overall depth of the team, the Wolfpack will lose a few key swimmers on the women’s side. Senior and Swedish Olympian Sophie Hansson will leave collegiate competition after this season, as will fifth-year ACC champions Julia Poole and Kate Moore.
It’s unclear at this point whether any of them will opt to enter the ISL draft, although it’s likely Hansson will continue her swimming career well into her 20s. With the postponement of this year’s ISL season due to the ongoing war in Ukraine, it’ll be interesting to see where some of NC State’s top talent ends up upon graduation.
Obviously, any hard and fast predictions I end up making about the Wolfpack’s performance in the pool next season will probably end up changing over the course of the next several months. FINA World Championships, European Championships and FINA Short Course World Championships will all occur this year, spelling out some exciting international races for current NC State swimmers and alums alike.
No matter which way you slice it, the Wolfpack’s best and brightest aren’t going anywhere anytime soon, and we’ll continue to see some incredible recruits for years to come.
