North Carolina State University Athletics
United States Olympic Trials Recap: Wolfpack Swimming
6/20/2021 7:58:00 PM | Swimming
OMAHA, Neb. – NC State was represented by over 20 current swimmers and alumni at Wave II of the 2020 U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials, which ran June 13-20 at the Chi Health Center in Omaha.
The Wolfpack secured 13 swims in the championship finals, two medal swims and 15 semifinal swims.
400 FREE:
The Pack started its weekend with a medal performance by distance swimmer Ross Dant. The Hickory, N.C., native was the No. 2 seed out of the morning prelims and touched third in the finals with the best time of his career (3:48.30).
800 FREE:
Dant followed up with another top-three finish in the 800-meter freestyle final. The rising junior swam lifetime bests in both the prelims (7:54.98) and the final (7:50.66) to better his mark that ranks second in team history. Dant also placed third in this race.
200 BACK:
Hunter Tapp put together a phenomenal week of swims, with his last finals appearance of the Trials coming in the 200-meter backstroke. He dropped time in each of the event's three rounds, winning his preliminary heat by a body length in 1:57.62, going 1:57.55 in the semifinals and setting a new team record in the final. HIs 1:56.76 personal best was good for fourth place in the race.
100 FLY:
Coleman Stewart secured a fourth-place finish of his own in the 100-meter butterfly. The alumnus set a new team record in the semifinals (51.54) and went 51.78 in the final.
100 BACK:
The 100-meter backstroke was the Pack's most finalized event across both the men and the women. In total, NC State placed three members of its program in the top eight - Katharine Berkoff, Justin Ress and Tapp.
Berkoff posted back-to-back lifetime bests in the prelims (58.88) and semifinals (58.62) before coming in at fourth in the final (58.82). She is now the team record holder in the event.
On the men's side, both alumnus Ress (5th - 53.00) and rising junior Tapp (7th - 53.45) reached the championship final. Tapp swam a personal best in all three stages of the event, with his mark in the final coming in at second in team history. Ress bettered his own team record to 52.86 in the semifinal.
100 FREE:
NC State also had two men's finalists in the 100-meter freestyle in alumni Ryan Held and Stewart. After securing their top-eight seeds in the middle of a competitive field, Held finished sixth in 48.46 and Stewart placed eighth in 48.51.
50 FREE:
The last finals appearance of the meet for the Wolfpack was another sprint free race. Ress held down the fort, placing seventh in 22.14. The 21.91 semifinals swim that sent him to the final was a lifetime best for Ress.
200 FLY:
Zach Brown put together a consistent stretch of races, with all three of his swims in the event checking in under 1:58. He swam a personal-best 1:57.02 in the semis to better his team record and went on to place seventh in the finals in 1:57.13.
200 BACK:
Berkoff was scratched into the final of the event after narrowly placing ninth in the semifinals. The Montana native went a personal-best 2:09.76 and set a team record in the semis before clocking in at 2:10.20 for eighth in the final.
SEMIFINALISTS:
Julia Poole also reached a pair of semifinals with her performances in the 200-meter individual medley and the 200-meter breaststroke. In the medley race, the Wolfpack senior clocked in at 2:13.15 to finish 13th. She then followed with a ninth-place time in the breaststroke race, clocking in at 2:27.63.
Kylee Alons' 58.58 100-yard butterfly lifetime best was good to send her to the semis, where she clocked in at 58.77 for 15th overall.
Heather Maccausland wrapped up an impressive few weeks in the 100-meter breaststroke by placing 15th overall in 1:09.06. She qualified for the semifinals after coming out of Wave I competition.
Dant (10th - 15:28.46), James Plage (19th - 15:34.80) and Owen Lloyd (24th - 15:44.34) made up another solid distance attack in the 1,500-meter freestyle.
#GoPack | @packswimdive
The Wolfpack secured 13 swims in the championship finals, two medal swims and 15 semifinal swims.
400 FREE:
The Pack started its weekend with a medal performance by distance swimmer Ross Dant. The Hickory, N.C., native was the No. 2 seed out of the morning prelims and touched third in the finals with the best time of his career (3:48.30).
800 FREE:
Dant followed up with another top-three finish in the 800-meter freestyle final. The rising junior swam lifetime bests in both the prelims (7:54.98) and the final (7:50.66) to better his mark that ranks second in team history. Dant also placed third in this race.
200 BACK:
Hunter Tapp put together a phenomenal week of swims, with his last finals appearance of the Trials coming in the 200-meter backstroke. He dropped time in each of the event's three rounds, winning his preliminary heat by a body length in 1:57.62, going 1:57.55 in the semifinals and setting a new team record in the final. HIs 1:56.76 personal best was good for fourth place in the race.
100 FLY:
Coleman Stewart secured a fourth-place finish of his own in the 100-meter butterfly. The alumnus set a new team record in the semifinals (51.54) and went 51.78 in the final.
100 BACK:
The 100-meter backstroke was the Pack's most finalized event across both the men and the women. In total, NC State placed three members of its program in the top eight - Katharine Berkoff, Justin Ress and Tapp.
Berkoff posted back-to-back lifetime bests in the prelims (58.88) and semifinals (58.62) before coming in at fourth in the final (58.82). She is now the team record holder in the event.
On the men's side, both alumnus Ress (5th - 53.00) and rising junior Tapp (7th - 53.45) reached the championship final. Tapp swam a personal best in all three stages of the event, with his mark in the final coming in at second in team history. Ress bettered his own team record to 52.86 in the semifinal.
100 FREE:
NC State also had two men's finalists in the 100-meter freestyle in alumni Ryan Held and Stewart. After securing their top-eight seeds in the middle of a competitive field, Held finished sixth in 48.46 and Stewart placed eighth in 48.51.
50 FREE:
The last finals appearance of the meet for the Wolfpack was another sprint free race. Ress held down the fort, placing seventh in 22.14. The 21.91 semifinals swim that sent him to the final was a lifetime best for Ress.
200 FLY:
Zach Brown put together a consistent stretch of races, with all three of his swims in the event checking in under 1:58. He swam a personal-best 1:57.02 in the semis to better his team record and went on to place seventh in the finals in 1:57.13.
200 BACK:
Berkoff was scratched into the final of the event after narrowly placing ninth in the semifinals. The Montana native went a personal-best 2:09.76 and set a team record in the semis before clocking in at 2:10.20 for eighth in the final.
SEMIFINALISTS:
Julia Poole also reached a pair of semifinals with her performances in the 200-meter individual medley and the 200-meter breaststroke. In the medley race, the Wolfpack senior clocked in at 2:13.15 to finish 13th. She then followed with a ninth-place time in the breaststroke race, clocking in at 2:27.63.
Kylee Alons' 58.58 100-yard butterfly lifetime best was good to send her to the semis, where she clocked in at 58.77 for 15th overall.
Heather Maccausland wrapped up an impressive few weeks in the 100-meter breaststroke by placing 15th overall in 1:09.06. She qualified for the semifinals after coming out of Wave I competition.
Dant (10th - 15:28.46), James Plage (19th - 15:34.80) and Owen Lloyd (24th - 15:44.34) made up another solid distance attack in the 1,500-meter freestyle.
#GoPack | @packswimdive
Players Mentioned
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S Free/Back
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