North Carolina State University Athletics
Men's Swimming Ready to Take on NCAA Championships
3/25/2015 12:00:00 AM | Swimming
RALEIGH, N.C.- Coming off its 25th ACC Championship title and record-breaking weekend in its last time out, the NC State men's swimming and diving team is ready to take on the NCAA Men's Swimming and Diving Championships.
Hosted by Iowa inside the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center, the championship will be held Thursday through Saturday in Iowa City, Iowa.
Simonas Bilis, Ben Cono, Stephen Coetzer, Soren Dahl, Jason Deana, Ryan Held, Derek Hren, Anton Ipsen, Adam Linker, Christian McCurdy, John Newell, Andreas Scheillerup, Hennessey Stuart and David Williams will represent the Pack at the national level.
Holloway's Statement
"It has been a great three quarters of the season so far. The guys had some pretty big goals at the beginning of the season; they set their minds to accomplish what they have set out and they're on a roll.
"Looking to this weekend, relays are the driving force in our program. At the NCAAs they will continue to be our number one priority. The guys love them and they count for double the points at the championship, which is big for a team. I think our men are at a point now that they want to have some individual success though.
"We had a lot of swims last year that earned us points, but most of them were from the ninth to 16thplace range. This year they're looking to have some top-8 performances and add that to our relay performances this week."- Braden Holloway, head coach
Last Time Out
The week of the 2015 ACC Men's Swimming Championship was a landmark memory and another giant step in the rise of the program. After a 23-year drought, the men's swimming team clinched its 25th conference championship title by more than a 150-point margin in a weekend that demonstrated the program's speed and depth.
Over the course of the four-day event, the program won 10 of the 21 events contested at the championship, including four of the five relays and a total of 22 medals. The men's team also broke a combined 24 school, conference, ACC meet and pool records.
Key Swims to Watch
Wolfpack Relays
Relay events are an aspect of the swimming world that the Pack takes much pride in. They serve much significance when competing for a conference or national title, as a team can earn twice as many points winning a relay event over an individual event.
For the men, relays have become just one of the many dominating components that make up NC State swimming and diving. With its recent success of winning four of the five relays at the ACC Championship, the team now holds top-10 times in all five relays among the country, including the fastest times in the 200 and 400 freestyle relays.
50 Freestyle
The Pack has three seeded in the top-10 of the 50 free heading into the championship: Bilis, Williams and Held. Bilis holds the fourth spot, while WiIlliams holds the fifth and Held is listed at No. 9.
Bilis holds the school record and won the conference title in the event, and all three were a part of the winning 200 and 400 freestyle relays at the ACC Championship.
100, 200 Freestyle
Bilis and Held each hold top seed times in the 100 and 200 freestyle as well, as Bilis is listed at No. 3 and Held at No. 9 in the 100. Bilis holds the ninth and Held the 11th spot in the 200.
Bilis holds the school record in both events and won the event titles at the ACC Championship on top of his 50 free win at this year's contest.
500, 1,650 Freestyle
Ipsen will represent the Pack in the distance free events at the national level. He is coming off of a sweep in the distance events at the ACC Championships and holds the school record in both.
He holds the seventh seed in both events heading into the national championship.
200 Backstroke
Stuart will enter the championship with the No. 2 seed time in the 200 backstroke. He holds the school record and is the 2015 ACC Champion in the event.
200 Butterfly
McCurdy finished fourth in the event at last year's championships, and holds the seventh-fastest seed in this year's swim.
Fan Information
There will be a preliminary and finals session each day, starting at 12 and 8 p.m. ET in respective order. Fans can refer to the NCAA Championship Page for live results, as well as links for live streaming for each session.
