ACC Championships, Day 5 Prelims: Chris Guiliano, Gretchen Walsh Swim Country’s Fastest Times in 100 Freestyle

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Chris Guiliano -- Photo Courtesy: Jaylynn Nash

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ACC Championships, Day 5 Prelims: Chris Guiliano, Gretchen Walsh Swim Country’s Fastest Times in 100 Freestyle

The march toward Atlantic Coast Conference team titles is on for the University of Virginia women and North Carolina State men, with both holding down leads of more than 300 points entering the final day before setting themselves up well in Saturday’s prelims. The UVA women, who have captured first place in all but one swimming event thus far, hold down the top seed in all three events for finals, with Reilly Tiltmann first in the 200 backstroke, Gretchen Walsh aiming for a third record-breaking swim in the 100 freestyle and Ella Nelson atop the 200 breaststroke while the NC State men are led by Daniel Diehl, who paced the 200 back.

The 100 freestyles produced the top swims of the morning, with Walsh setting the country’s fastest time in the women’s event while Chris Guiliano did the same in the men’s 100 free. The Notre Dame senior, fresh off a summer in which he qualified for his first senior-level international competition, clocked a time of 40.84 in the prelims, which moved him ahead of Florida’s Josh Liendo (40.95) for the country’s fastest time thus far.

Women - Team Rankings - Through Event 30                     
 
  1. Virginia, University of        1178.5   2. North Carolina State Universit    869
  3. Louisville, University of         841   4. Duke University                 673.5
  5. North Carolina, University of   625.5   6. Florida State University          433
  7. VA Tech                         423.5   8. Georgia Institute of Technolog    390
  9. Notre Dame, University of         364  10. Pittsburgh, University of         330
 11. University of Miami (Florida)     295
Men - Team Rankings - Through Event 31                      
 
  1. North Carolina State Universit 1063.5   2. Notre Dame, University of       746.5
  3. VA Tech                         666.5   4. Louisville, University of         664
  5. Florida State University          538   6. Virginia, University of         534.5
  7. North Carolina, University of     529   8. Pittsburgh, University of         438
  9. Georgia Institute of Technolog    392  10. Duke University                   198
 11. University of Miami (Florida)      94

Women’s 200 Backstroke

Expect a strong race between Virginia’s Reilly Tiltmann and NC State’s Kennedy Noble in the 200 back final after Tiltmann clocked 1:51.77 for the top seed out of prelims and Noble took second in 1:52.00. Noble is the defending champion in this event and placed second behind teammate Katharine Berkoff in Friday’s 100 back final while Tiltmann was third in the 100 back. Tiltmann’s time ranks her sixth in the country while Noble sits eighth.

Virginia Tech’s Caroline Bentz took third in 1:52.61, just ahead of Notre Dame’s Madelyn Christman (1:53.06). The Hokies got two swimmers into the A-final, with Carmel Weiler Sastre qualifying fifth, and Virginia freshman Tess Howley will join Tiltmann in the final as the eighth qualifier. North Carolina’s Emma Karan and Louisville’s Paige Hetrick also got in.

Event 34  Women 200 Yard Backstroke
==================================================================
         MEET: # 1:49.61  2/16/2017 Alexia Zevnik, NCSU-NC
         CONF: % 1:49.09  3/18/2017 Alexia Zevnik, NCSU-NC
         AMER: $ 1:47.16  3/10/2019 Regan Smith, Riptide
         USOP: & 1:47.16  3/10/2019 Regan Smith, Riptide
         NCAA: ! 1:47.24  3/23/2019 Beata Nelson, Wisconsin
         Pool: * 1:47.91  3/21/2015 Missy Franklin, CAL-PC
                 1:50.50  A
                 1:53.94  IV23 Invited NCAA 2023
                 1:57.07  B
    Name           Year School               Seed    Prelims              
==================================================================
                      === Preliminaries ===                       
 
  1 Tiltmann, Reill     UVA               1:54.13    1:51.77 qIV23  
    r:+0.73  26.51        54.63 (28.12)
        1:23.37 (28.74)     1:51.77 (28.40)
  2 Noble, Helen        NC State          1:54.09    1:52.00 qIV23  
    r:+0.66  26.36        54.46 (28.10)
        1:22.95 (28.49)     1:52.00 (29.05)
  3 Bentz, Caroline     VA Tech           1:52.43    1:52.61 qIV23  
    r:+0.85  26.68        55.15 (28.47)
        1:23.85 (28.70)     1:52.61 (28.76)
  4 Christman, Made     Notre Dame        1:53.27    1:53.06 qIV23  
    r:+0.82  26.57        54.87 (28.30)
        1:23.97 (29.10)     1:53.06 (29.09)
  5 Weiler Sastre,      VA Tech           1:56.12    1:53.52 qIV23  
    r:+0.90  27.35        56.14 (28.79)
        1:24.82 (28.68)     1:53.52 (28.70)
  6 Karam, Emma         UNC               1:54.99    1:53.76 qIV23  
    r:+0.89  27.15        55.85 (28.70)
        1:24.52 (28.67)     1:53.76 (29.24)
  7 Hetrick, Paige      Louisville        1:54.06    1:53.81 qIV23  
    r:+0.77  26.34        55.04 (28.70)
        1:24.38 (29.34)     1:53.81 (29.43)
  8 Howley, Tess        UVA               1:53.47    1:54.17 qB     
    r:+0.82  26.93        55.55 (28.62)
        1:24.61 (29.06)     1:54.17 (29.56)

Men’s 200 Backstroke

Midseason enrollee Daniel Diehl has made an immediate impact for NC State at his first conference championship meet. He was fourth in the 200 IM and third in the 200 free, and now he will aim for a title in the 200 back after leading the way in prelims with a time of 1:39.58. That booked a spot in the national top-10 (for the moment), and Diehl will lead a big effort for NC State in the final as Kacper Stokowski qualified third (1:40.61), James Ewing placed fourth (1:40.78) and Hunter Tapp was fifth (1:40.16).

Notre Dame, aiming for the highest finish at the ACC meet since joining the conference just under a decade ago, sit in second place heading into the final day, and the Fighting Irish got three A-finalists, with Tommy Janton placing second overall (1:39.97) while teammates Tanner Filion and Marcus Gentry booked the last two spots in the field. Virginia Tech’s Nicholas Garcia was the other qualifier for the top-eight.

Event 35  Men 200 Yard Backstroke
==================================================================
         MEET: # 1:37.71  2/29/2020 Coleman Stewart, NC State-NC
         CONF: % 1:37.71  2/29/2020 Coleman Stewart, NC State-NC
         AMER: $ 1:35.73  3/26/2016 Ryan Murphy, California
         USOP: & 1:35.73  3/26/2016 Ryan Murphy, California
         NCAA: ! 1:35.73  3/26/2016 Ryan Murphy, California
         Pool: * 1:35.75  3/27/2021 Shaine Casas, TA&M-GU
                 1:39.13  A
                 1:40.82  IV23 Invited NCAA 2023
                 1:44.60  B
    Name           Year School               Seed    Prelims              
==================================================================
                      === Preliminaries ===                       
 
  1 Diehl, Daniel       NC State          1:42.64    1:39.58 qIV23  
    r:+0.75  23.84        48.94 (25.10)
        1:14.46 (25.52)     1:39.58 (25.12)
  2 Janton, Tommy       Notre Dame        1:40.34    1:39.97 qIV23  
    r:+0.84  23.39        48.68 (25.29)
        1:14.35 (25.67)     1:39.97 (25.62)
  3 Stokowski, Kacp     NC State          1:40.67    1:40.61 qIV23  
    r:+0.82  23.92        49.99 (26.07)
        1:15.76 (25.77)     1:40.61 (24.85)
  4 Ewing, James        NC State          1:40.21    1:40.78 qIV23  
    r:+0.97  23.03        48.03 (25.00)
        1:14.18 (26.15)     1:40.78 (26.60)
  5 Tapp, Hunter        NC State          1:40.49    1:41.16 qB     
    r:+0.88  23.78        49.11 (25.33)
        1:15.07 (25.96)     1:41.16 (26.09)
  6 Garcia, Nicolas     VA Tech           1:41.92    1:41.39 qB     
    r:+0.73  24.26        49.87 (25.61)
        1:15.69 (25.82)     1:41.39 (25.70)
  7 Filion, Tanner      Notre Dame        1:42.21    1:41.50 qB     
    r:+0.84  23.27        48.83 (25.56)
        1:15.52 (26.69)     1:41.50 (25.98)
  8 Gentry, Marcus      Notre Dame        1:40.35    1:41.53 qB     
    r:+0.67  24.09        50.08 (25.99)
        1:15.88 (25.80)     1:41.53 (25.65)

Women’s 100 Freestyle

Record watch will be on in the women’s 100 free final as Gretchen Walsh returns to individual racing after a day when she only raced on a relay. Of course, her leadoff leg on the Cavaliers’ 400 medley relay resulted in the fastest time ever in the 100 back, her third individual record of the meet. In the 100 free, she clocked 46.28 in prelims to beat her own nationally-top-ranked time of 46.40, but at night, she will aim to knock off a record: the meet record of 45.86 held by Kate Douglass, Walsh’s own conference record of 45.81 or perhaps the American, U.S. Open and NCAA records of 45.56 set by Simone Manuel in 2017.

Walsh was joined in the final by Virginia teammate Jasmine Nocentini, already the 100 breaststroke winner and 50 free runnerup. Nocentini clocked 47.22 for the second seed while UVA’s Maxine Parker took seventh in 48.11. NC State’s Katharine Berkoff took third in 47.31 while Louisville placed four swimmers in the top heat: Gabi Albiero, Christiana Regenauer, Julia Dennis and Lucy Mehraban.

Event 36  Women 100 Yard Freestyle
==================================================================
         MEET: # 45.86  2/18/2023 Kate C Douglass, UVA-VA
         CONF: % 45.81  3/18/2023 Gretchen Walsh, UVA-VA
         AMER: $ 45.56  3/18/2017 Simone Manuel, Stanford
         USOP: & 45.56  3/18/2017 Simone Manuel, Stanford
         NCAA: ! 45.56  3/18/2017 Simone Manuel, Stanford
         Pool: * 45.86  2/18/2023 Katherine Douglass, UVA-VA
                 47.18  A
                 48.37  IV23 Invited NCAA 2023
                 49.36  B
    Name           Year School               Seed    Prelims              
==================================================================
                      === Preliminaries ===                       
 
  1 Walsh, Gretchen     UVA                 46.40      46.28 qA     
    r:+0.77  22.04        46.28 (24.24)
  2 Nocentini, Jasm     UVA                 46.75      47.22 qIV23  
    r:+0.65  22.35        47.22 (24.87)
  3 Berkoff, Kathar     NC State            47.18      47.31 qIV23  
    r:+0.73  22.88        47.31 (24.43)
  4 Albiero, Gabrie     Louisville          47.55      47.39 qIV23  
    r:+0.66  22.68        47.39 (24.71)
  5 Regenauer, Chri     Louisville          47.73      47.75 qIV23  
    r:+0.68  22.90        47.75 (24.85)
  6 Dennis, Julia       Louisville          48.41      48.03 qIV23  
    r:+0.64  22.85        48.03 (25.18)
  7 Parker, Maxine      UVA                 48.91      48.11 qIV23  
    r:+0.75  23.19        48.11 (24.92)
  8 Mehraban, Lucy      Louisville          48.39      48.61 qB     
    r:+0.75  23.28        48.61 (25.33)

Men’s 100 Freestyle

Chris Guiliano is aiming for his third individual win of the meet after swimming the country’s top time and an ACC record in prelims. The Notre Dame breakout star’s time of 40.84 broke the conference record set by NC State’s Ryan Held in 2017 as well as the meet record set by Virginia’s Matt Brownstead two years ago. Guiliano anchored the Fighting Irish’s 400 medley relay Friday night in 40.17, the second-fastest split in history behind Caeleb Dressel’s 40.15, and now Guiliano is up to seventh all-time in the individual event.

Guiliano is the headliner, but NC State has the depth here, with Luke Miller qualifying second in 41.78 and teammates Quintin McCarty, Jerry Fox and Sam Hoover taking sixth, seventh and eighth, respectively. Virginia Tech’s Youssef Ramadan was third (41.86), followed by teammate Brendan Whitfield (42.06) and UVA’s Brownstead (42.07).

Event 37  Men 100 Yard Freestyle
==================================================================
         MEET: # 40.84  2/24/2024 Christopher Guiliano, Notre Dame-AC
         CONF: % 40.84  2/24/2024 Christopher Guiliano, Notre Dame-AC
         AMER: $ 39.90  3/24/2018 Caeleb Dressel, Florida
         USOP: & 39.90  3/24/2018 Caeleb Dressel, Florida
         NCAA: ! 39.90  3/24/2018 Caeleb Dressel, Florida
         Pool: * 40.84  2/24/2024 Christopher Guiliano, Notre Dame-AC
                 41.50  A
                 42.32  IV23 Invited NCAA 2023
                 43.46  B
    Name           Year School               Seed    Prelims              
==================================================================
                      === Preliminaries ===                       
 
  1 Guiliano, Chris     Notre Dame          41.23      40.84#qA     
    r:+0.62  19.51        40.84 (21.33)
  2 Miller, Lukas       NC State            42.49      41.78 qIV23  
    r:+0.63  20.11        41.78 (21.67)
  3 Ramadan, Yousse     VA Tech             42.31      41.86 qIV23  
    r:+0.60  19.88        41.86 (21.98)
  4 Whitfield, Bren     VA Tech             41.84      42.06 qIV23  
    r:+0.68  19.92        42.06 (22.14)
  5 Brownstead, Mat     UVA                 42.36      42.07 qIV23  
    r:+0.63  19.92        42.07 (22.15)
  6 McCarty, Quinti     NC State            41.90      42.16 qIV23  
    r:+0.68  20.30        42.16 (21.86)
  7 Fox, Jerry          NC State            42.86      42.18 qIV23  
    r:+0.68  20.02        42.18 (22.16)
  8 Hoover, Samuel      NC State            43.22      42.21 qIV23  
    r:+0.62  20.32        42.21 (21.89)

Women’s 200 Breaststroke

Ella Nelson and Alex Walsh are longtime teammates, first at the Nashville Aquatic Club and for the past four seasons at the University of Virginia. Now, in Nelson’s fifth and final collegiate season, they will race alongside each other in the 200 breast final. They already ranked 1-2 in the national rankings, with Walsh at 2:04.22 and Nelson at 2:06.10, and Nelson improved her season-best time in prelims with a 2:06.04, three hundredths ahead of Walsh’s 2:06.07.

The two stars will have plenty of familiar company in the final, as UVA teammates Aimee Canny (2:08.25) and Anna Keating (2:08.50) finished third and fourth, respectively, while Emma Weber qualified eighth. Duke placed two swimmers into the field with Kaelyn Gridley and Sarah Foley while Louisville’s Kim Herkle was sixth.

Event 38  Women 200 Yard Breaststroke
==================================================================
         MEET: # 2:03.02  2/19/2022 Alexandra J Walsh, UVA-VA
         CONF: % 2:01.29  3/16/2023 Kate Douglass, UVA-VA
         AMER: $ 2:01.29  3/16/2023 Kate Douglass, UVA-VA
         USOP: & 2:01.29  3/16/2023 Kate Douglass, UVA-VA
         NCAA: ! 2:01.29  3/16/2023 Kate Douglass, UVA-VA
         Pool: * 2:03.68  2/18/2023 Alex Walsh, UVA-VA
                 2:05.73  A
                 2:09.68  IV23 Invited NCAA 2023
                 2:13.89  B
    Name           Year School               Seed    Prelims              
==================================================================
                      === Preliminaries ===                       
 
  1 Nelson, Margare     UVA               2:06.10    2:06.04 qIV23  
    r:+0.72  28.85      1:00.53 (31.68)
        1:32.90 (32.37)     2:06.04 (33.14)
  2 Walsh, Alexandr     UVA               2:04.22    2:06.07 qIV23  
    r:+0.78  28.47      1:00.26 (31.79)
        1:32.92 (32.66)     2:06.07 (33.15)
  3 Canny, Aimee        UVA               2:08.49    2:08.25 qIV23  
    r:+0.76  28.41      1:00.25 (31.84)
        1:33.70 (33.45)     2:08.25 (34.55)
  4 Keating, Anna       UVA               2:10.44    2:08.50 qIV23  
    r:+0.71  29.44      1:01.99 (32.55)
        1:35.14 (33.15)     2:08.50 (33.36)
  5 Gridley, Kaelyn     Duke              2:06.92    2:08.75 qIV23  
    r:+0.74  29.14      1:01.31 (32.17)
        1:34.47 (33.16)     2:08.75 (34.28)
  6 Herkle, Kim         Louisville        2:09.82    2:09.04 qIV23  
    r:+0.70  29.22      1:01.68 (32.46)
        1:34.84 (33.16)     2:09.04 (34.20)
  7 Foley, Sarah        Duke              2:11.00    2:09.29 qIV23  
    r:+0.68  29.08      1:01.91 (32.83)
        1:35.38 (33.47)     2:09.29 (33.91)
  8 Weber, Emma         UVA               2:11.40    2:09.34 qIV23  
    r:+0.76  29.45      1:02.01 (32.56)
        1:35.30 (33.29)     2:09.34 (34.04)

Men’s 200 Breaststroke

Virginia Tech went 1-2 in the final event of the morning as Ananias Pouch took the top seed in 1:51.86, more than a half-second clear of conference-record-holding teammate Carles Coll Marti (1:52.44). NC State’s Aresenio Bustos, already the winner of the 200 IM, qualified third in 1:53.44, followed by 100 breast winner Noah Nichols of Virginia in 1:53.57.

Louisville’s Denis Petrashov, Florida State’s Tommaso Baravelli, Virginia’s Max Iida and North Carolina’s Benjamin Delmar were the other men to qualify for the A-final.

Event 39  Men 200 Yard Breaststroke
==================================================================
         MEET: # 1:49.69  3/26/2022 Carles Coll Marti, VT-VA
         CONF: % 1:49.69  3/25/2022 Carles Coll Marti, VT-VA
         AMER: $ 1:47.91  3/25/2017 Will Licon, Texas
         USOP: & 1:46.91  3/25/2023 Leon Marchand, Arizona St.
         NCAA: ! 1:47.91  3/25/2017 Leon Marchand, Arizona St.
         Pool: * 1:50.51  2/18/2023 Denis Petrashov, LOU-KY
                 1:51.09  A
                 1:52.94  IV23 Invited NCAA 2023
                 1:57.44  B
    Name           Year School               Seed    Prelims              
==================================================================
                      === Preliminaries ===                       
 
  1 Pouch, Ananias      VA Tech           1:54.84    1:51.86 qIV23  
    r:+0.70  25.38        53.48 (28.10)
        1:22.36 (28.88)     1:51.86 (29.50)
  2 Coll Marti, Car     VA Tech           1:53.41    1:52.44 qIV23  
    r:+0.61  25.28        54.08 (28.80)
        1:22.57 (28.49)     1:52.44 (29.87)
  3 Bustos, Arsenio     NC State          1:57.65    1:53.44 qB     
    r:+0.65  25.73        54.75 (29.02)
        1:24.11 (29.36)     1:53.44 (29.33)
  4 Nichols, Noah       UVA               1:54.20    1:53.57 qB     
    r:+0.68  25.54        54.35 (28.81)
        1:23.55 (29.20)     1:53.57 (30.02)
  5 Petrashov, Deni     Louisville        1:52.87    1:53.79 qB     
    r:+0.71  25.80        54.70 (28.90)
        1:23.85 (29.15)     1:53.79 (29.94)
  6 Baravelli, Tomm     FSU               1:55.36    1:54.14 qB     
    r:+0.67  25.39        54.24 (28.85)
        1:23.67 (29.43)     1:54.14 (30.47)
  7 Iida, Max           UVA               1:53.22    1:54.28 qB     
    r:+0.65  25.83        54.71 (28.88)
        1:24.21 (29.50)     1:54.28 (30.07)
  8 Delmar, Benjami     UNC               1:55.66    1:54.82 qB     
    r:+0.71  26.18        55.29 (29.11)
        1:25.01 (29.72)     1:54.82 (29.81)
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