Coming off of its first ACC title in 37 years, the NC State women’s swimming and diving team heads into the NCAA Championships this week with a full head of steam.
The Pack finished ninth in last year’s championship, its highest finish since 1982, and the team is perhaps even stronger this season. State qualified at least one student-athlete in 12 of the 13 total swimming events; The Wolfpack will participate in all five relays as well. Eleven swimmers will represent the Pack at the championship.
Seniors Alexia Zevnik and Rachel Muller lead the charge for State, each qualifying for three individual events. Juniors Hannah Moore and Krista Duffield will also swim in three solo events. Behind them are seniors Kayla Brumbaum and Natalie Labonge, along with sophomores Courtney Caldwell and Elise Haan, who will all swim in two races. Freshman sprinter Ky-Lee Perry also qualified for two events.
The strongest aspect of this State team is its relays, which the Wolfpack won four of five of at the ACC Championships. State will swim in all five relays at the NCAA Championships, and posted the fourth-fastest qualifying time in four of them.
The Pack had a qualifying time within two seconds of top-seeded Stanford in the 400-yard medley relay, and was just .54 seconds slower than the Cardinal in the 200-yard medley. The 200-yard and 400-yard freestyle relays also see the Pack close to the top, under two seconds behind the top qualifying time in both. The 800-yard freestyle relay is State’s weakest, as it qualified with the seventh-best time.
State will almost definitely find success in individual events throughout the week, particularly in the freestyle discipline. The top individual event for the Pack is by far the 100-yard freestyle, which State qualified an impressive five swimmers in.
Senior Lotta Nevalainen, Caldwell, Perry, Duffield and Labonge make up the 100-free brigade for State, with Caldwell posting the 14th-fastest qualifying time of 47.89. Perry is right behind Caldwell, having swam the 17th-fastest time in the country this year.
Perry, Caldwell and Duffield will also compete in the 50-yard freestyle, with Perry coming in with an “A” cut qualifying time of 21.80 to make her the 13th quickest in the NCAA. Caldwell is seeded 18th with a time of 21.99.
The distance events will highlight the talents of Muller and Moore, who both qualified for the 500-yard and 1,650-yard freestyle events. Moore fronts this pair, having posted a top-15 qualifying time in both events. The distance specialists for the Pack have performed well all year, but will have a daunting task in keeping up with Olympic star Katie Ledecky of Stanford.
As strong as State is in the freestyle races, it is equally as formidable in the backstroke. Zevnik highlights the backstroke group for the Pack, as she swam an “A” cut qualifying time in both the 100 and 200-yard backstroke. Zevnik also provides State’s best chance at a podium finish at the meet in the 200-yard backstroke, which she posted a third-place qualifying time in.
Haan will also swim in both backstroke distances for State. Freshman Mackenzie Glover will participate in the 200-yard version, her only individual event of the championships. Haan and Zevnik will be joined by Caldwell in the 100-yard backstroke.
Brumbaum is the breaststroke specialist for the Pack, and will be the team’s only swimmer participating in both the 100 and 200-yard breaststroke events. She is better in the shorter version, coming in with the sixth-fastest qualifying time and an “A” cut.
The individual medley events will also feature just one swimmer from State in each, with Moore going in the 400-yard version and Zevnik in the 200-yard heat. The Pack’s biggest weakness is the butterfly. Duffield will swim in the 100-yard butterfly event, with the 200-yard butterfly being the only individual race that State will not participate in.
The Pack looks as strong as ever heading into the season’s final meet, but isn’t poised to compete for the team championship. Stanford and the University of California-Berkeley have deep teams littered with Olympians, and are the overwhelming favorites heading into the meet. However, State should compete with the rest of the field and a top-10 finish looks likely for the Pack.
