The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
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MAY 2018 ■ 31 eign swimmers can be on the relay) record by more than a second. It ended with Held, Ress, Molacek and sophomore Coleman Stewart setting a new American record in winning the 400 free- style relay (all swimmers are from the United States) by 1.42 seconds over Florida (which had senior Caeleb Dressel, the world record holder in the 100-yard free, on its relay). Two years ago, NC State became the first ACC team to ever win a relay national title. Now it is the first to win multiple relays in one meet. And in between, three swimmers etched their names into NC State athletics' history. Breakout Star Stewart probably was not the ideal can- didate to break NC State's 12-year drought of individual national title winners. The Wolfpack signed five of the top 100 swim- mers in the country in its 2016 recruiting class according to CollegeSwimming.com, but Stewart was not one of them. In fact, the York, Pa., native checked in at No. 115 nationally in the class. Yet, enter- ing the NCAA Championships, he had the top time nationally in the 100 backstroke. "I wasn't super heavily recruited out of high school," Stewart acknowledged. "There was this shock factor that this kid came out of nowhere. I felt like everyone was kind of watching me." Stewart had served notice of his potential in 2017 when he was the ACC Freshman of the Year. At the conference meet that year, he was third in the 100 backstroke and fifth in the 100 butterfly. He went on to reach the B finals of the 100 back at the NCAA Championships and finished 14th. But with a spotlight on him after he won the ACC ti- tle in the 100 back with the country's fastest swim at that point, earning him the No. 1 seed for nationals, nervousness crept in. "The one thing Braden said to me was … don't be afraid to dream," Stewart re- membered. "That literally took the world off my shoulders. It just made me feel so much better." That Friday morning did not start well for Stewart. Despite being seeded fourth in the 100 butterfly, Stewart missed the A finals by finishing 11th in prelims after messing up one of his turns. Three events later, Stewart snuck into the A finals in the 100 back with the seventh fastest time in the prelims (the top eight qualify). "I woke up and just felt terrible that morning," Stewart admitted. "I wasn't awake. I was in a pretty bad mood that morning actually. I didn't eat much at breakfast. I got to the pool, and I wasn't myself. I wasn't super relaxed." That was nothing a good nap couldn't fix, and that is what Stewart did for the only time during the NCAA Champion- ships. When he woke up, he was a new man, or in his words "feeling a million times better mentally and physically." Stewart won the B finals of the 100 but- terfly in a time that would have been good enough for fifth in the A finals. That set the stage for Stewart, who was swimming from lane one in the 100 back. The race itself re- mains a bit of a blur for him. He remembers doing well with his underwater kicks and swimming ahead of the one lane he could see. Stewart touched the wall 0.01 seconds faster than Texas junior John Shebat, with Stewart's teammate Vazaios in third. Just like that, Stewart's swimming life had completely turned. Moving forward, he wants to become an elite 200 back swimmer. He finished 12th in the race this year. Aside from being the national champ in the 100 backstroke, of the swimmers in the 100 butterfly, Stewart will have the second fastest returning time. "I don't think it'll affect me mentally," Stewart said. "I can't say because I haven't been there, but it's definitely going to be different coming from next to nobody out of high school." The Greatest Long Distance Swimmer At NC State Ipsen had already established himself as the program's premier long distance swim- mer in school history. He was a four-time ACC champion in the 500 free and a three- time winner in the 1,650. He was also a three- time All-American in both races, as well as two-timer in the 400 individual medley. Ipsen started the NCAA meet by finish- ing third in the 500 free, and then grabbed 11th in the 400 individual medley. The 1,650, though, was his race. He pushed himself at the ACC Championships, earn- ing the top seed. At the NCAA meet, the 1,650 is the lone race where swimmers are seeded directly into the A finals. Around the 800 or 900-yard mark, Ipsen usually can figure how he is doing. Since he was the top seed and swimming in the mid- dle lane, he had a good view of the rest of the pool with the exception of the far lanes. He had a good sense that the only swimmer he was competing with at the halfway point was Michigan sophomore Felix Auboeck. "I said I am going to relax for a couple hundred more," Ipsen remembered. "I didn't want to go too soon. I don't want to make that mistake especially if there is one guy ■ Swimming By The Numbers 3 Pool records set by NC State's three individual national title winners. 5 National championships won this year — two relays and three individuals. The only other time NC State won multiple titles at the national meet was in 1956 when Dick Fadgen won the 200 breaststroke and 200 butterfly. 10 Top-five finishes by NC State swimmers and relay teams in addition to the five national titles. 11 Team records set this year by the swim- mers and divers. 75 Points scored by junior Andreas Vazaios at the national meet, the third highest of any swimmer there. 385 Points scored by the Pack at the national meet, the most in school history. NC State claimed national titles in three indi- vidual events and two relays en route to its third consecutive fourth-place team finish at the NCAA Championships. PHOTO BY JUSTIN CASTERLINE