There has been no hangover for the NC State swimming and diving team following its strongest campaign in program history, as Pack swimmers have continued their excellence from the 2016-17 season into the summer slate.
Three members of the Wolfpack have punched their tickets to the 2017 FINA World Championships, which run from July 14-30 in Budapest, Hungary. Rising junior Justin Ress, as well as rising seniors Anton Ipsen and Andreas Vazaios will represent their respective countries as well as NC State on the biggest stage.
Ipsen is slated for four events at worlds, qualifying from Denmark in the 400-, 800- and 1,500-meter freestyle events, as well as the 400-meter individual medley. Vazaios will swim for Greece in the 100-meter fly.
However, it was Ress’ performance at the U.S. National Championships and trials for worlds that stands out. After finishing third in prelims for the 50-meter backstroke, Ress shaved over half a second off his time to win the gold medal in the final and book his trip to worlds, setting a US nationals record with a swim of 24.41.
Ress barely missed out on representing the U.S. in two events at worlds, finishing third in the finals of the 100-meter backstroke. Ress was the fastest swimmer in prelims in the 100-meter back, but was a tenth of a second slower in finals to fall back to third and miss out on swimming the event at worlds by one place.
Another Pack swimmer that impressed at nationals was rising senior and Olympic gold medalist Ryan Held. In the 100-meter freestyle, Held finished seventh in the final, one spot and just .04 seconds away from traveling to worlds as a member of the US 4×100-meter freestyle relay team.
Held also swam in the main final of the 50-meter freestyle and 50-meter butterfly, finishing in eighth and fifth, respectively, and not cracking the U.S. roster for worlds. The 50-meter butterfly will see a former Wolfpack swimmer representing the U.S., as 2006 graduate and former Olympian Cullen Jones finished second in the event at nationals.
While Ipsen will swim a full distance freestyle slate at worlds on the men’s side, rising senior Hannah Moore barely missed out on the World Championships in all three long-distance events. Her strongest showing was in her best event, the 1,500-meter freestyle, where she finished second to University of Virginia’s Leah Smith with a time of 16:08.68. However, Olympic star Katie Ledecky had already qualified for one of the two spots for the U.S..
Moore was just one spot away from worlds in the 800-meter as well, again losing out to Ledecky and Smith. The 400-meter freestyle saw Moore make the main final too, but a sixth-place finish ensured she would not travel to Budapest for worlds.
Rising junior Courtney Caldwell was also busy at U.S. nationals, swimming in five events. Her strongest performance was in the 50-meter backstroke, where a fourth-place finish in both prelims and finals put her very close to a podium finish.
While Ipsen, Vazaios and Ress will be the only Pack swimmers at the World Championships, other Pack swimmers very well could participate in the World University Games taking place in Taipei in August. 2017 graduate Alexia Zevnik and rising sophomore Mackenzie Glover, who are both Canadian, have already been selected for the World University Games.
Glover and Zevnik could potentially be joined by a number of Wolfpack teammates, as Held, Moore and Caldwell could all very well be chosen to represent the U.S. at the World University Games later in the summer.
It has been a busy summer for the Pack contingent of swimmers, but one that has seen the team continue its blistering pace from the college season. The summer is far from over for the Pack, and could see even more success, especially from Ress in the 50-meter back at worlds.
