For the fifth consecutive year, both the NC State men’s and women’s teams finished the NCAA Swim and Dive Championships inside the top 10. Finishing fifth, the men’s team finished inside the top 10 for a ninth consecutive year. 

Although the women’s team wasn’t expected to score within the top 15 of the national championships, they finished ninth and were led by graduate student Katharine Berkoff and sophomore Kennedy Noble. Berkoff and Noble combined to set five program records over the course of the week. 

One such broken-record was on the 100-yard backstroke, in which Berkoff has now won the title in three of the past four years. Noble didn’t finish far behind in the event where she took home third place and an All-American honors for the event. The two swimmers combined for eight All-American awards.

After adding five this season, Berkoff brought her total to 30 All-American honors during her Wolfpack career. She sits second all-time for an NC State women’s swimmer and walks away as one of the most decorated the program has ever seen.

Berkoff started and finished the week strong with impressive times. At the beginning of the week, she comfortably won her heat and placed second in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 21.23. Then on the final day, Berkoff broke her personal best twice in the 100-yard freestyle event where she clocked in at 46.65 in preliminaries and then 46.23 in the finals to take home another second-place finish.

Noble similarly started and finished the week strong, setting two personal bests of her own. Winning the B-Final, Noble set the fastest time ever by a Wolfpack woman for the 200-yard IM with a time of 1:53.72. Then on the final day, Noble set a personal best in the 200-yard backstroke in prelims and went on to set a program record to secure second place with a time of 1:48.43.

Although Berkoff and Noble were the only swimmers to finish on the podiums in individual events, the Pack had other swimmers who received All-American honors. Joining Berkoff, freshman Miriam Sheehan, sophomore Meghan Donald and senior Abby Arens earned All-American honors as they took home seventh in the 200-yard freestyle relay. 

Arens earned another All-American honor in the 400-yard-medley relay when she, Noble, Berkoff and Junior Annabel Crush placed sixth in the event. Sophomore Emma Hastings had a good week herself setting two personal bests in the 500 and 1650-yard freestyle finals. Finishing with a 15.59.69 in the 1650-yard freestyle final, Hastings beat her previous best by 9.57 seconds and was an honorable mention for All-American honors in the event.

A week after the women finished their season in Athens, Georgia, the men took to the pool in Indianapolis, where they placed fifth. The team set multiple American records as they racked up 318 points over the week.

The men started day one with a bang when senior Luke Miller, red-shirt freshman Quintin McCarty and juniors Aiden Hayes and Sam Hoover put up a 1:20.98 in the 200-yard medley relay to re-claim the American record they had set in the ACC Championships. With a time of 20.07 in the 50-yard backstroke split, Hayes set a world record and powered his team to a third place finish in the event.

Joining McCarty and Miller in the 200 freestyle was fifth-year Noah Henderson and freshman Jerry Fox who went on to beat the American record they set in the ACC championships for the same event. The group beat their record by 0.31 seconds, earning them fourth place.

Hayes, the defending champion in the 200-yard butterfly, reached the podium for the third time when he earned third with a time of 1:39.16. His teammate graduate student Noah Bowers didn’t finish far behind with a time of 1:39.94, putting him in sixth. Bowers’ time was enough to earn him All-American in the event for the second straight year.

One of the best swimmers for the Wolfpack, fifth-year Kacper Stokowski, had another great national championship week. Stokowski performed well in the backstroke events. In the 100-yard and 200-yard he placed second and fifth respectively. In the preliminaries for the 200-yard backstroke, Stokowski set a personal best with 1:37.90, the second-fastest time in program history.

Junior Arsenio Bustos had a standout performance throughout the week, including a fourth-place finish in the 200 IM. With a time of 1:39.83, Bustos set the second-fastest time in program history and for the second straight year earned All-American honors. Bustos also won the consolation final of the 200-yard breaststroke by setting a program record with a 1:50.49.

With multiple records set, podium finishes and All-Americans, NC State concluded a very successful swim season for both the men’s and women’s squads.