2023 ACC SWIMMING AND DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS
Heat sheets on Friday night
Heading out for another exciting night of racing at the 2023 ACC Championships, which will feature the 200 Fly, 100 Back, 100 Breaststroke and 400 Medley Relay.
The headliner of the Women’s 100 Back is top seed Catherine Berkow, who is the fastest in history in this event. She will likely swim her first rested 100 backlog of the season and is looking to beat her season best of 50.53 from the heats and extend her ACCs winning streak to four in the 100 heat. NC State swimmers will also be in the middle lanes for the men’s 100 return, with Giovanni Izzo and defending champion Kacper Stokowski are the top two seeds.
The women’s 200 fly will be the Abbys’ battle as Louisville’s Abby Hay, NC State’s Abby Arens and UVA’s Abby Harter are the top 3 seeds. Another NC State duo will lead the men’s 200 fly, with teammates Noah Bowers (1:41.36) and Aiden Hayes (1:41.77) posting the two fastest times of the morning by over a second .
UVA swimmers headline the 100 breast, eh Alex Walsch is the top seed on the women’s side and Noah Nichols is the top seed on the men’s side. Nichols equaled Evgenii Somov’s ACC conference record time of 51.03 in heats and has a chance to claim solo possession of the record tonight.
The conclusion of the night is formed by the relays with 400 layers, where a fresh Gretchen Walsch And Kate Douglas was able to set the women’s relay again on record time. For the men, NC State should be favored to take the win and extend their lead over the rest of the field even further.
Speaking of team battles, the NC State women are seeded tonight to overtake the second-place Louisville women as a close race for second place develops between the Virginia Tech, Louisville, Notre Dame and Virginia men’s teams.
LADIES 200 BUTTERFLY
- NCAA record: 1:49.51, Ella Eastin (STAN) – 2018 Pac-12 Championship
- ACC record: 1:50.61, Kelsi Worrell (LOU) – 2016 NCAA Championships
- ACC Championship Record: 1:52.81, Grace Oglesby (LOU) – 2019
- NCAA A Average: 1:52.86
- 2022 NCAA Invitational Time: 1:56.14
Top 8:
The Abbys did not disappoint in the 200 Fly final as Abby Arens, Abby Hay and Abby Harter repeated their positions from the heats to take the top three spots in the final.
Arens led from start to finish, touching the wall in a time of 1:52.91 to successfully defend her ACC title and be within 0.1 seconds of the ACC meeting record. She fell more than a second from her personal best of 1:54.11, which she set to victory at the event last year.
For part of the race Harter looked set to pass Arens as they were separated by 0.1 seconds at the 100 mark and 0.13 seconds at the 150 mark. However, Arens passed the rest of the field with a 29.24 final 50 to increase her lead on the final lap, while Hay dropped a 29.43 final 50 to place Harter (who finished in 30.51) in second to overtake.
Hay also swam a major personal best of 1:53.51 in that race, beating the 1:54.43 she swam in last year’s competition.
Arens, who swims for NC State, successfully snagged UVA’s winning streak for women’s swim events. NC State put on a really strong performance in this race Grace Sheble also finished fourth.
MEN 200 BUTTERFLY
- NCAA record: 1:37.35, Jack Conger (TEX) – 2017 NCAA Championships
- ACC Record: 1:37.92, Nick Albiero (LOU) – 2022 ACC Championships
- ACC Championship Record: 1:37.92, Nick Albiero (LOU) – 2022
- NCAA A-Average: 1:40.20
- 2022 NCAA Invitational Time: 1:42.42
Top 8:
NC State dominated in the men’s 200 fly, taking three of the top four spots. Aiden Hayes led the way, winning by almost a second in 1:40.21. He cut the 1:40.39 he swam by 0.18 seconds to finish third at last year’s ACC Championships.
Hayes was in control for most of the race, despite being challenged early on by Louisville’s Gustavo Saldo. Saldo led Hayes by 0.17 seconds at the 100-yard mark, although he slacked off badly in the back half of his race, going from first to 100 to last at the finish.
Second place went to NC State’s Noah Bowers, who beat his personal best of 1:41.36 by 0.22 seconds this morning. The podium was rounded off by UVA senior Josh Fongwho achieved his first ever top 3 finish in ACCs in that race.
WOMEN’S 100 SETBACK
- NCAA record: 48.74, Catherine Berkow (NCSU) – 2021 NCAA Championships
- ACC record: 48.74, Catherine Berkow (NCSU) – 2021 NCAA Championships
- ACC championship record: 49.41, Catherine Berkow (NCSU) – 2022
- NCAA A Average: 50.89
- 2022 NCAA Invitation Time: 52.46
MEN 100 SETBACK
- NCAA record: 43.35, Luca Urlando (UGA) – 2022 NCAA Championships
- ACC record: 43.98, Coleman Stewart (NCS) – 2019 NCAA Championships
- ACC Championship Record: 44.04, Coleman Stewart/Kacper Stokowski
- NCAA A Average: 44.79
- 2022 NCAA Invitational Time: 45.87
100 BREAKDOWN FOR WOMEN
- NCAA record: 55.73, Lilly King (IU) – 2019 NCAA Championships
- ACC Record: 56.72, Sophie Hansson (NCS) – 2022 ACC Championships
- ACC Championship Record: 56.72, Sophie Hansson (NCS) – 2022
- NCAA A-Cut: 58.10
- 2022 NCAA Invitational Time: 59.87
MEN 100 BREAST BEAT
- NCAA record: 49.69, Ian Finnerty (IU) – 2018 NCAA Championships
- ACC record: 51.03, Evgenii Somov (LOU) – 2021 ACC Championships/Noah Nichols (UVA) – 2023 ACC Championships
- ACC Championship Record: 51.03, Evgenii Somov (LOU) – 2021/Noah Nichols (UVA) – 2023
- NCAA A Average: 51.40
- 2022 NCAA Invitation Time: 52.20
WOMEN’S PLATFORM DIVING – FINALS
WOMEN’S 400 MEDLEY RELAY
- NCAA record: 3:22.34, Virginia – 2022 NCAA Championships/2022 ACC Championships
- ACC Record: 3:22.34, Virginia – 2022 NCAA Championships/2022 ACC Championships
- ACC Championship Record: 3:22.34, Virginia – 2022 ACC Championships
- NCAA A-average: 3:31.38
MEN’S 400 MEDLEY RELAY
- NCAA record: 2:59.22, Texas – 2017 NCAA Championships
- ACC Record: 3:01.53, Louisville – 2021 NCAA Championships
- ACC Championship Record: 3:01.53, NC State – 2022
- NCAA A-average: 3:04.96