UNC Dual Meet Brings Out the Best In Braden Holloway’s Wolfpack Swimmers (Video)

RALEIGH – Saturday’s dual meet between NC State and North Carolina brought alumni and fervent supporters of both swimming and diving teams to the meet, and it created an exciting environment for what turned out to be a great preview of what’s to come in a few weeks at the ACC championship.

NC State head coach Braden Holloway spoke after the meet with Swimming World’s David Rieder at length about the strengths and weaknesses of his women’s team, and how North Carolina’s depth was too much for his team to handle in the dual meet. Looking ahead to this month’s Atlantic Coast Conference championships, Holloway is confident his women’s team will place in the top three, but squads such as UNC and Louisville will not make it easy.

The men’s meet was not as nailbiting, with NC State winning all but one event. Holloway said the varying pool depth at NC State gives his team an advantage, and he also credits the many strengths on the team across all events as being another benefit when racing in dual meets. The Wolfpack men’s team lost to UNC last year in dual meet action, and Holloway said “it irritated them, … and they were just hungry today.”

As for the ACC meet, the challenges of trying to overthrow Virginia Tech as conference champions will include a Louisville team that is equally matched. The diving component of the meet is the team’s biggest hurdle, Holloway said, but that is one of many areas he’s looking to improve in the coming years.

Braden Holloway Video Interview

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