Twenty-two members of NC State’s swimming team competed at the 2022 U.S. Open Swimming Championships in Greensboro, NC from Nov. 30 to Dec. 3. Although many of the nation’s best collegiate swimmers were missing, the Wolfpack saw plenty of solid races from some of its most talented athletes.
Highlighted by sophomore David Curtiss’ win in the 50-meter freestyle, NC State put up two podium appearances across four days of competition. Furthermore, several members of the Pack posted Olympic Trial-qualifying times to cement a visit to Indianapolis in 2024.
The U.S. Open isn’t a clear indicator of any college’s talent or NCAA potential — pro swim superstars like Katie Ledecky and Regan Smith were in attendance, surely skewing point totals in their teams’ favor, and several of the best collegiate swimmers in the country decided to skip out.
Granted, this wasn’t a particularly outstanding meet for the Wolfpack by any means. Coming off of an impressive team performance at the NC State/GAC Invitational two weeks prior, it’s likely head coach Braden Holloway meant to use this meet as an indicator of where some of his swimmers land ahead of the back half of the season.
After senior Ross Dant scratched the 800-meter freestyle on Tuesday evening and opted out of the 400-meter freestyle finals after placing second in prelims, NC State lost one of its most likely podium finishers. It wasn’t immediately clear why he decided to pull out of his events, but his absence wasn’t detrimental to the Wolfpack’s overall performance. Again, this wasn’t a meet NC State was looking to win outright.
On the other hand, Curtiss picked up the Pack’s only first-place finish of the meet on day two. The 20-year-old cracked a 21.92 in the 50-meter freestyle to beat second-place finisher Josh Liendo by a mere 0.07, even after his goggles filled up with water at the jump.
The following evening, junior Katharine Berkoff took second place in the 100-meter backstroke to U.S. Olympian and world record-holder Smith — an unsurprising finish, considering Smith’s dominance in the event. Since she exited the collegiate swimming scene a few months back, Berkoff’s stiffest competition at NCAAs next year will likely be from Stanford freshman Claire Curzan.
Curtiss will be representing the United States at the FINA World Swimming Championships later this month, but the Wolfpack will return to the pool on Jan. 14 for a regular-season dual meet against Duke.
