The Week That Was: NC State Beats Texas In Dual Meet Showdown

Photo Courtesy: Andy Ringgold / Aringo Photos

This week saw the NC State men down the defending National Champion Texas Longhorns in Austin, a result that signals the growing strength of the Wolfpack. Read about that meet and all of the biggest stories from the week in this week’s edition of The Week That Was!

The Week That Was #5 – Seebohm Grabs Seven Titles At Aussie Short Course Champs

emily-seebohm-hugs-minna-atherton-2016-aussie-sc-champs

Photo Courtesy: Swimming Australia

The 2016 Australian Short Course Championships kicked off last week in Brisbane, with several of the country’s top names showing up to compete. Cameron McEvoy started off the meet with a bang, recording a new All-Comers record in the 100 freestyle (46.12), taking down Matthew Abood’s 46.29 from 2009. McEvoy also took first in the 200 freestyle (1:42.75) and the 50 (21.04). But the biggest star of the meet had to be Emily Seebohm, who won a record seven National Titles coming off of the 2016 FINA World Cup. She started by clinching her signature backstroke events, taking the 100 (57.26) and 200 (2:01.82) before racking up wins in the 50 freestyle, 50 butterfly, 50 backstroke, and 100 and 200 IMs.

Notably, Brittany Elmslie pulled off an upset in the 100 free, beating defending LCM World Champion Bronte Campbell by almost a second to take the title in 52.36. On the men’s side, Tommy Sucipto also added a new All-Comers record in the 100 breaststroke (57.67), taking down Brenton Rickard’s 2008 mark and showing he may be the much needed future of Australian breaststroke. All in all, 20 athletes were chosen from the competition to represent Australia at the Short Course World Championships in Canada next month. See full recaps of the meet on our Event Landing Page.

The Week That Was #4 – Ryan Hoffer Just Misses Dressel’s High School Record

Photo Courtesy: Brooke Wright

Chaparral High School’s Ryan Hoffer competed at the Division 2 Arizona Boys State Championships this week, just barely missing Caeleb Dressel’s National Public School record in the 50 yard freestyle. Touching in 19.34, Hoffer just missed Dressel’s record of 19.29 from November 2013. His best time is 19.06 from the Speedo Short Course Juniors last December, but this is his fastest in high school competition. Hoffer also won the 100 butterfly in 46.97 and was part of two winning relays. Hoffer is one of the strongest recruits in the class of 2017, although just a senior in high school he owns the second fastest 100 yard freestyle of all time with a 41.23 from last December. That time ranks Hoffer, who verbally committed to swim for Cal Berkeley back in April, sixth all-time.

The Week That Was #3 – U.S. Selects Short Course Worlds Championship Team

Photo Courtesy: Rob Schumacher-USA TODAY Sports

The United States announced a 35-member strong roster for next month’s 2016 FINA Short Course World Championships that will take place in Windsor, Canada. 10 Olympians from Rio de Janeiro highlight Team USA’s roster, including individual medalists Lilly King, Cody Miller, Josh Prenot, and Leah Smith. King and fellow NCAA swimmer Ella Eastin of Stanford will both swim a team high four individual events. King will compete in the 50, 100, and 200 breaststrokes in addition to the 100 IM, while Eastin will compete in the 100, 200, and 400 IM in addition to the 200 butterfly. The women’s team will be led by Louisville Head Coach Arthur Albiero, while the men will be led by California’s Yuri Suguiyama. The meet will begin December 6th and run through December 11th at the WFCU Centre. You can take a look at the full Team USA roster, including a list of their events, can be found here.

The Week That Was #2 – Sarah Sjostrom Parting Ways With Coach

Photo Courtesy: Rob Schumacher-USA TODAY Sports

Swedish Olympian and gold medalist Sarah Sjostrom announced this week that she was parting ways with long-time coach Carl Jenner. The world record holder has been training with Jenner since she was eleven years old. Under his tutelage, Sjostrom rocketed to become the premier butterflier in the world, breaking the world record in 2009 at just 15 years old. While she came away from the London Olympics with no medals (her highest finish was a fourth place finish in the 100 butterfly), her lead up to Rio de Janeiro proved much more fruitful.

Sjostrom won the 100 butterfly World Titles in 2013 and 2015, breaking the world record in Kazan. Sjostrom reset that mark at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games when she won gold in 55.48. The Swede ultimately left Rio with three individual medals: a gold in the 100 butterfly, a silver in the 200 freestyle, and a bronze in the 100 freestyle. Sjostrom will begin training under Johan Wallberg in the new year, who will be head coach at the national swim center in Stockholm and is the former coach and partner to recently retired Therese Alshammar. Citing Alshammar as inspiration for longevity in a career, Sjostrom explained the move as a way to stay inspired as the 23-year-old continues her career.

The Week That Was #1 – NC State Men Down NCAA Champs In Austin

Photo Courtesy: Andy Ringgold / Aringo Photos

The Texas Longhorns hosted NC State in Austin on Friday in an exciting re-match of their close dual meets last year. The Texas men and women narrowly won their respective meets last season, but this time around the meets were split and the points were not nearly as close. Notably, the Wolfpack men handily defeated the defending NCAA Championship Team in dominant fashion, winning 173.5-126.5. Recent Olympian Ryan Held was a standout for the Wolfpack. The junior had a pair of sub-19 second splits on the opening and closing relays, powering his team to tight wins in both events. Held was 18.85 on the opening medley relay and 18.90 on the closing freestyle relay. He also won the individual 50 freestyle (19.49) and 100 freestyle (43.10).

Texas didn’t go down without a fight, and was buoyed by the return of Joseph Schooling to NCAA competition. Schooling won both butterflies and had strong splits in the 50 fly (20.58) and 50 free (19.11) to keep Texas in the hunt. Notably, Texas was still without senior and 4-time NCAA champion Will Licon, who has yet to compete this season. After a historic fourth place finish at NCAA’s last year, this win is just one more sign that NC State is continuing to develop into a swimming powerhouse. Read a full recap of that meet including a play by play of each event here.

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Kristie Wisniewski

7 years ago

Swim meets are not won on paper…anything can happen in the pool ????

Daina Rice Hill

7 years ago

GO PACK!

Len Iglar

7 years ago

Heather Moyer Iglar!