For the first time since 1980, the NC State women’s swimming and diving team captured the ACC Championship title this week in Atlanta, Georgia. The Wolfpack dominated its competition en route to winning the title, 1183.5-1100.5, over second-place Virginia.
The Pack was fronted by its overwhelming success in the relay events throughout the meet. State captured a gold medal in four of the five relays, winning silver in the other. The Pack also set ACC records in the 200-yard medley relay, the 200-freestyle relay and the 400-freestyle relay during the championships.
Individually, the Pack was led by incredible performances from senior Alexia Zevnik, sophomore Courtney Caldwell and freshman Ky-Lee Perry. Zevnik finished on top of the podium in five events and took home a silver in one. Caldwell captured three gold medals, two silvers and a bronze, while Perry grabbed four golds and a bronze.
The swimmers got off to a great start on the first day of competition, with podium finishes in both events that day. To open up the meet, the Pack relay team of sophomore Elise Haan, senior Kayla Brumbaum, senior Natalie Labonge and Perry took home the gold in the 200-yard medley relay. With a time of 1:34.89, the group broke the ACC record by over a half of a second.
State also captured a silver medal on day one, in the 800-yard freestyle relay. Senior Rachel Muller, Zevnik, Caldwell and junior Hannah Moore finished the event with a time of 6:59.73, just over three seconds off of the winners, Virginia.
Divers were also in the pool on the opening day of competition. In the 3-meter, freshman Madeline Kline placed 19th in preliminaries to lead the Pack, as no State divers made the event final. The Pack women found themselves in sixth place as day one drew to a close with 126 points, 27 points behind UNC-Chapel Hill, which had a very strong diving performance.
State catapulted itself into the lead with an incredible second day of competition. The Pack finished day two with a 452.5-385.5 lead over the Cavaliers. Moore placed third in the 500-yard freestyle to open things up.
State got its second gold medal of the meet in the 200-individual medley as Zevnik edged out senior Kaitlyn Jones of UVA, setting an ACC Championship record with a time of 1:54.44.
Three members of the Pack found the podium in the 50-yard freestyle. Perry won the event with a time of 21.88, while Labonge and Caldwell tied for third place at an even 22 seconds. Junior Krista Duffield also gave the Pack a strong performance in the event, winning the “B” final.
State found its third gold medal of the day in the 200-yard freestyle relay. Labonge, Perry, Duffield and Caldwell out-touched UNC at the wall by .05 seconds and broke an ACC record with their time of 1:27.31. The final event of day two was 1-meter diving. Kline again led the Pack, this time with a 15th-place finish, but failed to qualify for the final.
The third day of competition brought more success for the Pack, as it finished with a 776.5-750 lead over second-place UVA. The day started with another podium finish for Moore, who captured a bronze medal in the 400-yard individual medley.
In the 100-yard butterfly and the 200-yard freestyle, State did not place a swimmer in the main final. However, Duffield took first place in the “B” final of the 100-yard butterfly, and Muller took fourth in the “B” final of the 200-yard freestyle.
State got back on the podium in the 100-yard breaststroke, as Brumbaum won a bronze medal in the event. Her time of 58.91 was less than half of a second back on winner Laura Simon of UVA.
In the 100-yard backstroke, State placed four swimmers in the top eight. Zevnik won the event, picking up her second gold medal of the meet. Caldwell and Haan finished in fourth and sixth, respectively, while senior Lotta Nevalainen finished eighth.
The Wolfpack continued its utter dominance in the relays in the 400-yard medley, capturing gold and winning by more than two seconds. The relay team featured Zevnik, Brumbaum, Duffield and Caldwell, giving Zevnik her third gold medal in as many days, while Brumbaum and Caldwell each picked up their second.
The fourth day of competition brought more dominance for the Pack. Muller and Moore finished third and fourth, respectively, in the 1650-yard freestyle. Zevnik won, yet again, in the 200-yard backstroke, with Haan capturing bronze.
Two members of the Pack found their way onto the podium in the next event, the 100-yard freestyle, as well. Caldwell took home a silver, with Perry finishing right behind her for bronze.
On the diving side of things, Kline qualified for her first final, in platform diving. She finished in seventh place, posting a score of 228.
The Pack finished off the meet in style, smashing the ACC record by over one second in the 400-yard freestyle relay. The team of Zevnik, Perry, Duffield and Caldwell posted a time of 3:10.31, which is also the best time that has been recorded in the entire NCAA this year.
