Ryan Held\u00a0<\/strong>made a name for himself this past summer when he finished third in the 100 free at Olympic Trials and booked his spot on his first Olympic team. Just over a month later, he joined up with\u00a0Caeleb Dressel<\/strong>, Michael Phelps\u00a0<\/strong>and\u00a0Nathan Adrian\u00a0<\/strong>to lead the U.S. to an Olympic gold medal in the men’s 400 free relay.<\/p>\n

Immediately after the Games, Held returned to NC State for his junior season, and coming up next week, he will compete at his first ACC championships since becoming an Olympian. Held joined this week’s episode of\u00a0Off Deck<\/em> to preview that meet and to discuss how life has changed since the Olympics.<\/p>\n

Held explained how much he is asked these days about crying on the Olympic podium, and he also discussed what the reaction was like when he returned from the Olympics, both in his hometown of Springfield, Ill., and on campus at NC State.<\/p>\n

Held then explained how his role on the NC State team has changed last year, and he revealed what he taught Dressel at the U.S. Olympic training camp that may have\u00a0contributed to the Florida junior’s recent relay success at the SEC championships.<\/p>\n