Day 4 Finals Live Recap

2023 ACC SWIMMING AND DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

Friday Night Heat Sheets

We are in for another exciting night of racing at the 2023 ACC Championships where the 200 fly, 100 back, 100 breast and 400 medley relays will be contested.

Overall, the women’s 100 back is the top seed Katharine Berkoff, which is the fastest in history in this event. She will swim likely her first rested 100 back of the season and looks to break her season best of 50.53 from prelims and extend the ACC’s 100 back win streak to four. NC State swimmers will also be in the middle lanes for the men’s 100 back, with Giovanni Izzo and defending champion Kacper Stokowski are the top two seeds.

The women’s 200 fly will be the battle for Abby’s, like Louisville’s Abby HayNC State Abby Arensand UVA’s Abby Harter are the top three 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, which Alex Walsh is the top seed on the women’s side and Noah Nichols is the top seed on the men’s side. Nichols tied Evgenii Somovhis ACC conference record time of 51.03 in prelims, and has a chance to take sole possession of the record tonight.

The end of the evening will be 400 medley relays, one of which is healthy Gretchen Walsh and Kate Douglass could put the women’s relay on record guard once again. On the men’s side, NC State should be favored to take the win and extend its lead even further over the rest of the field.

Speaking of team matchups, the NC State women are seeded to overtake the Louisville women for second place tonight, as a tight race for second between Virginia Tech, Louisville, Notre Dame and the Virginia men’s teams heats up.

WOMEN’S 200 BUTTERFLY

• NCAA Record: 1:49.51, Ella Eastin (STAN) – 2018 Pac-12 Championships
• ACC Record: 1:50.61, Kelsi Worrell (LOU) – 2016 NCAA Championships
• ACC Championship Record: 1:52.81, Grace Oglesby (LOU) – 2019
• NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 1:52.86
• 2022 NCAA Invitational Time: 1:56.14

Top 8:

1. Abby Arens, NC State — 1:52.91
2. Abby Hay, Louisville – 1:53.51
3. Abby Harter, UVA — 1:54.51
4. Grace Sheble, NC State – 1:55.59
5. Martina Peroni, Duke – 1:55.64
6. Tristen Ulett, Louisville – 1:55.69
7. Edith Jernstedt, FSU — 1:55.78
8. Ellie Vannote, UNC — 1:57.26

The Abbys did not disappoint in the 200 fly final, as Abby Arens, Abby Hay and Abby Harter repeated their positions from prelims 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 defend his ACC title and come within 0.1 seconds of the ACC meet record. She dropped over a second from her best time of 1:54.11, which she achieved to win this event last year.

For part of the race, it looked like Harter was going 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 split the rest of the field with a 29.24 last 50 to increase her gap over the field on the final lap, while Hay dropped a 29.43 last 50 to pass Harter (who closed in 30.51) for second.

Hay also swam a major personal best of 1:53.51 in this race, beating the 1:54.43 she swam at last year’s meet.

Arens, who swims for NC State, snapped UVA’s winning streak for women’s swimming. NC State had a really strong showing in this race, too Grace Sheble was also number four..

MEN’S 200 BUTTERFLY

• NCAA Record: 1:37.35, Jack Conger (TEX) – 2017 NCAA Championships
• ACC Record: 1:37.92, Nick Albiero (LOU) – 2022 ACC Championship
• ACC Championship Record: 1:37.92, Nick Albiero (LOU) – 2022
• NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 1:40.20
• 2022 NCAA Invitational Time: 1:42.42

Top 8:

1. Aiden Hayes, NC State — 1:40.21
2. Noah Bowers, NC State — 1:41.14
3. Josh Fong, UVA — 1:42.45
4. Luke Miller, NC State – 1:42.47
5. Landon Gentry, Virginia Tech — 1:42.70
6. Patrick Hussey, UNC — 1:43.20
7. Adam Mahler, Pitt – 1:43.38
8. Gustavo Saldo, Louisville – 1:44.35

NC State was dominant in the men’s 200 fly, taking three of the top four spots. Ahead was Aiden Hayes, who won by almost a second with a time of 1:40.21. He took 0.18 seconds off the 1:40.39 he swam to take third at last year’s ACC Championships.

Hayes was in control for most of the race, although he was challenged by Louisville’s Gustavo Saldo early on. Saldo led Hayes by 0.17 seconds at the 100-yard mark, although he faded badly in the back half of the race, going from first in the 100 to last at the finish.

In second place was NC State’s Noah Bowers, who took 0.22 seconds off his personal best of 1:41.36 in prelims this morning. Rounding out the podium was the UVA senior Josh Fongwho earned his first ever top-three finish at the ACCs in this race.

WOMEN’S 100 BACK

• NCAA record: 48.74, Katharine Berkoff (NCSU) – 2021 NCAA Championships
• ACC Record: 48.74, Katharine Berkoff (NCSU) – 2021 NCAA Championships
• ACC Championship Record: 49.41, Katharine Berkoff (NCSU) – 2022
• NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 50.89
• 2022 NCAA Invitational Time: 52.46

Top 8:

1. Katharine BerkoffNC State – 49.45
2. Reilly Tiltmann, UVA — 51.20
3. Kennedy Noble, NC State – 51.59
4. Carly Novelline, UVA — 51.89
5. Grace County, UNC – 52.03
6. Emma Muzzy, NC State — 52.10
7. Kylee Allons, NC State — 52.26
8. Sophie Lindner, UNC – 52.49

Katharine Berkoff captured his fourth 100 back title in four years tonight, finishing first by nearly two seconds. She swam a season-best time of 49.45, which is just 0.04 seconds off her ACC Championship record from last year, and makes her the first woman to break the 50-second barrier this season.

Last but not least were UVA’s Reilly Tiltman, which went 51.20. She was 0.3 seconds off her season-best time of 50.90 set at the Cavalier Invite. Kennedy Noble clocked at 51.59 for third, while Carly Novelline came in fourth in 51.89 to break under the 52-second barrier for the first time this season.

In particular, the bottom four swimmers in this race have all added time from their initial swim.

100 BACK, LORD

• 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’ Cut: 44.79
• 2022 NCAA Invitational Time: 45.87

Top 8:

1. Kacper Stowkowski, NC State – 44.47
2. Matt Brownstead, UVA – 45.35
3. Giovanni IzzoNC State – 45.46
4. Berke Saka, Georgia Tech — 45.70
5. Max Edwards, UVA – 45.73
6. Mason Herbet, FSU — 45.93
7. Tommy Janton, Notre Dame – 45.97
8. Dalton Lowe, Louisville – 46.12

WOMEN’S 100 BREAST

• 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

100 BREASTFEED MEN’S

• 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’ Cut: 51.40
• 2022 NCAA Invitational Time: 52.20

DIVING PLATFORM DIVING — FINALS

• ACC Record: Brittany Viola, Miami — 367.20 (2008)
• ACC Championship Record: Katrina Young, Florida State – 364.70 (2014)

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’ Cut: 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’ Cut: 3:04.96