After five days of competition at the swimming and diving ACC Championships at the Greensboro Aquatic Center, the NC State swimming men placed third while the women took fifth.
Men’s swimming and diving finished 250.5 points behind the winner, California. On the women’s side, the Pack finished 664 points behind first-place Virginia. Over the course of the five-day championship, the Pack secured four gold, six silver and five bronze medals.
At the top of the podium this year was graduate Owen Lloyd — the subject of a controversial disqualification last season. Last year, Owen finished first in the 1650m race, and in celebration, lept into the lane of his then-teammate Ross Dant, who had already finished. Not all swimmers had finished the race though, so Lloyd was disqualified for violating NCAA rules.
“That race last year did a lot of things to me,” Lloyd said. “It was emotionally hard. I was really proud of it and it was taken away from me, but I’m so glad it happened. All part of the plan. It put a chip on my shoulder, and I came back even stronger.”
Lloyd came back so strong, that he not only won gold but also set the third-fastest miler in NCAA history. This marks the fourth consecutive year that an NC State swimmer has won the 1650m freestyle ACC gold medal.
Along with Lloyd, redshirt sophomore Quintin McCarty won an individual gold medal in the 50 freestyle.
The Pack secured two gold medals in relay events — the men’s 200 free relay and the men’s 400 medley relay. The 200 free relay featured junior Drew Salls, McCarty, graduate Luke Miller and sophomore Jerry Fox, finishing in 1:14.29. The 400 medley relay featured McCarty, senior Sam Hoover, Fox and Miller, finishing in 3:01.62.
In the men’s 400 free relay, freshman Kaii Winkler along with McCarty, Miller and Fox won silver for the men. The women earned bronze in the 400 free relay, a squad featuring senior Olivia Nel and freshmen Lily Christianson, Erika Pelaez and Leah Shackley.
McCarty also medaled in the 100m backstroke, earning silver with a personal best time of 45.72. McCarty earned his third silver medal in the 100m freestyle.
Other silver medalists at the championships included junior Kyle Ponsler in the 400m IM with a time of 3:40.05 and Shackley in the 200m backstroke with a time of 1:48.73.
Individually, Fox earned bronze in the 50m freestyle with a time of 18.83. Shackley earned bronze in the 100m backstroke with a time of 50.37.
In the relays, the men’s 200m medley relay featuring sophomore Hudson Williams, McCarty, Hoover, and Miller earned bronze, as well as the men’s 800m freestyle relay featuring Winkler, Hoover, Fox and sophomore Daniel Diehl.
The women’s 400m medley relay earned bronze with a time of 3:27.08.
Pack swimming and diving will next see action at the NCAA Zone B Diving championships on March 10 in Auburn, Alabama.
