Throughout the season, the NC State men’s swimming and diving team has continuously broken records and made school history, and its NCAA Championship appearance was no different. The men’s team finished 8th overall this past weekend in Iowa City, Iowa, marking its highest NCAA finish in 37 years.
“I have an unbelievable pride in our men, fighting back after the first day and the first relay and getting to the point where we finished on such a great note,” head coach Braden Holloway said. “That was the most gratifying thing, watching how much they kept fighting for what they wanted, which was to be a top-ten program.”
During the course of the three-day meet, the Wolfpack earned 26 All-American mentions and finished with three runner-up team performances. This eighth place title ties the program’s fifth-highest finish, the last top-eight finish coming in 1976 with coach Don Easterling at the helm.
The Pack dealt with a tough start on the first night with the 200 freestyle relay disqualification.
“They came together. It’s not the end of the world. We had a long way to go and a lot of great opportunities left and I think they just put it behind them and moved forward with it,” Holloway said.
In preliminaries on Thursday, the squad of junior Simonas Bilis, freshman Ryan Held, sophomore Andreas Schiellerup and senior David Williams was disqualified for a false start, but after an appeal, reclaimed the first seed in the 200 free relay. Unfortunately for the Pack, history was doomed to repeat itself in the finals and the foursome disqualified again. NC State struggled with a similar situation in the 2014 NCAA Championship when the 200 free relay team was also disqualified in preliminaries.
Despite the unfortunate disqualification, the men’s team did not lose momentum or motivation, and continued to fight for the ultimate goal.
“All of us were ready to score more points,” Bilis said, which is exactly what the team accomplished with the help of their coaches and several leaders on the team.
Senior John Newell understood the pressures of the NCAA meet and looked to help his teammates.
“I just wanted to be a leader for these guys and lead them through one of the most exciting years we’ve had in a long time,” Newell said.
Freshman Hennessey Stuart had a very successful NCAA debut and earned seventh overall in his 200-yard backstroke where he earned All-American honors with a time of 1:40.39. Fellow teammate and freshman Anton Ipsen also found success when he finished his 1,650 free in record-breaking fashion. Not only did his time of 14:13.16 grant him All-American honors, but it also shattered his previous school record by 5 seconds.
The team supported each other through the ups and downs of the meet.
“It was electric, and an incredible environment. We were all very excited for each event and we were always cheering for each other,” Ipsen said after the finals session on Friday.
Bilis, who steadily conquered the freestyle sprint events during the regular season, continued to do so on the national stage. The Lithuanian native received three All-American mentions and broke three school records during the meet. Bilis finished second overall in the 100 free with a time of 41.78 and placed fourth in the 50. Held took home sixth in the 100 free consolation heat and also earned first team All-American with his 42.75 finish.
“It feels amazing,” Bilis said about his runner-up title. “It’s hard to believe. NCAA is one of the fastest meets in the world and being second in it is just crazy and feels so good.”
Held and Bilis were also both part of the 400 freestyle relay that took home second place overall. Sophomore Soren Dahl and Williams joined them on the podium Saturday night. This relay broke the school and conference record, received All-American honors, and tied for the program’s highest relay finish at the NCAA.
