ACC Championships, Night 5: Cal Takes Control of Men’s Meet in 1,650
There appeared to be intrigue in the men’s team race at the ACC Championships entering the final night Saturday. It lasted as long as the mile.
Cal held a 28-point lead over Stanford after five days at the McAuley Aquatic Center at Georgia Tech. The final night’s race had the potential to swing the meet either way, but California put that to bed quickly with four scorers in the top nine to stretch the lead to 69 points.
On the women’s side, Virginia is on the fast track to a seventh straight title, and Saturday brought an American and NCAA record for Claire Curzan in the 200 back.
All the action:
ACC Championships Team Scores
Women - Team Rankings - Through Event 31 1. Virginia, University of 1028.5 2. California, University of, Ber 860.5 3. Stanford University 798 4. Louisville, University of 653 5. North Carolina State Universit 591.5 6. Pittsburgh, University of 450 7. North Carolina, University of, 387.5 8. Duke University 328.5 9. Notre Dame, University of 310 10. Florida State University 304 11. University of Miami (Florida) 296 12. VA Tech 274.5 13. Georgia Institute of Technolog 238 14. Southern Methodist University 203 15. Boston College 74
Men - Team Rankings - Through Event 32 1. California, University of, Ber 827 2. Stanford University 799 3. North Carolina State Universit 665 4. Louisville, University of 663 5. VA Tech 541.5 6. Florida State University 499.5 7. North Carolina, University of, 446.5 8. Virginia, University of 433.5 9. Notre Dame, University of 397 10. Southern Methodist University 326 11. Pittsburgh, University of 324 12. Georgia Institute of Technolog 293 13. University of Miami (Florida) 162 14. Duke University 109 15. Boston College 86
- ACC Championships Live Results
- 2026 ACC Championships Meet Page
- ACC Swimming News
- NCAA Division I Conference Championships Hub
- ACC Championships Diving: Chiara Pellacani, Max Fowler Repeat on Boards
- ACC Championships, Night 1 Finals: Florida State Men, Louisville Women Start with 200 Medley Relay Wins
- ACC Championships, Day 2 Prelims: Quintin McCarty Sets 50 Free Meet Record
- ACC Championships, Day 2 Finals: NC State Sprints to 200 Free Relay Conference Record; UVA Rules 500 Freestyle
- ACC Championships, Day 3 Prelims: Anna Moesch Goes 1:41.67 in 200 free
- ACC Championships, Night 3 Finals: Lucy Bell Starts Record Setting Night in 400 IM
- ACC Championships, Day 4 Prelims: Eneli Jefimova, Anastasia Gorbenko Set Up Showdown
- ACC Championships, Night 4: Claire Curzan Becomes No. 2 All-Time Performer in 100 Backstroke
- ACC Championships, Day 5: Yamato Okadome, Josh Zuchowski Set Up Men’s Title Showdown
Women’s 1650 freestyle
Another race, another win for Virginia. This time, it’s Katie Grimes dropping nearly eight seconds off her season-best time to 15:45.20. Teammate Cavan Gormsen was third, the last swimmer to break 16 minutes.
In between was Louisville’s Thilda Haell, the freshman trimming nearly 20 seconds off her seed time. Emma Hastings of NC State was fourth.
Event 33 Women 1650 Yard Freestyle
=========================================================================
MEET: @ 15:25.30 2/20/2016 Leah Smith, UVA-VA
CONF: # 15:25.30 2/20/2016 Leah Smith, UVA-VA
AMER: $ 14:59.62 12/14/2025Katie Ledecky, Florida
USOP: % 14:59.62 12/14/2025Katie Ledecky, Florida
NCAA: ^ 15:03.31 3/17/2017 Katie Ledecky, Stanford
Pool: & 15:32.72 3/19/2016 Leah Smith, Virginia-VA
16:14.82 IV25 Invited NCAA 2025
16:25.29 NC NCAA
Name Year School Seed Finals Points
=========================================================================
1 Grimes, Katie SO UVA 15:52.95 15:45.20 IV25 32
r:+0.67 25.42 53.20 (27.78)
14:48.52 (28.61) 15:17.14 (28.62) 15:45.20 (28.06)
2 Haell, Thilda FR Louisville 16:10.35 15:50.88 IV25 28
r:+0.72 26.01 54.16 (28.15)
14:53.82 (29.20) 15:22.76 (28.94) 15:50.88 (28.12)
3 Gormsen, Cavan JR UVA 16:03.37 15:56.76 IV25 27
r:+0.77 26.31 54.57 (28.26)
15:00.21 (29.34) 15:28.80 (28.59) 15:56.76 (27.96)
4 Hastings, Emma SR NC State 16:28.47 16:08.13 IV25 26
r:+0.69 27.26 55.98 (28.72)
15:09.60 (29.75) 15:39.23 (29.63) 16:08.13 (28.90)
5 Fassina Romao, SO Louisville 15:56.88 16:09.65 IV25 25
r:+0.70 26.17 54.16 (27.99)
15:10.89 (29.98) 15:40.59 (29.70) 16:09.65 (29.06)
6 Reader, Lily SR UNC 16:26.80 16:15.41 NC 24
r:+0.70 27.05 56.05 (29.00)
15:16.77 (29.92) 15:46.69 (29.92) 16:15.41 (28.72)
7 Bucaro, Emily SR Pitt 16:33.69 16:21.90 NC 23
r:+0.66 27.06 56.29 (29.23)
15:23.17 (30.03) 15:52.99 (29.82) 16:21.90 (28.91)
8 Helms, Katherin SR NC State 16:26.72 16:23.18 NC 22
r:+0.75 26.53 55.06 (28.53)
15:24.09 (30.06) 15:54.18 (30.09) 16:23.18 (29.00)
Men’s 1650 freestyle
Max Carlsen swam 14:32.68, a cut of nearly 12 seconds off his best time and within five seconds of Zach Yeadon’s 2020 meet record.
The big winner, though, was Cal. Nathan Wiffen was second for the Golden Bears in 14:34.17. Ryan Erisman was third in 14:37.58. Freddy Klein was sixth, and Ian Platts-Mills ninth.
Stanford mitigated the damage with Ethan Ekk fourth and Liam Custer fifth. NC State solidified its grasp on third place in the team standings with Lance Norris seventh and Matt Marsteiner eighth.
Event 34 Men 1650 Yard Freestyle
=========================================================================
MEET: @ 14:27.93 2/29/2020 Zachary Yeadon, ND-IN
CONF: # 14:24.43 3/24/2018 Anton Ipsen, NC State-NC
AMER: $ 14:12.08 2/22/2020 Bobby Finke, Florida
USOP: % 14:12.08 2/22/2020 Bobby Finke, Florida
NCAA: ^ 14:12.08 2/22/2020 Bobby Finke, Florida
Pool: & 14:22.28 3/26/2022 Bobby Finke, Florida-FL
14:48.80 IV25 Invited NCAA 2025
15:06.60 NC NCAA
Name Year School Seed Finals Points
=========================================================================
1 Carlsen, Max FR NC State 14:44.52 14:32.68 IV25 32
r:+0.73 23.58 49.53 (25.95)
13:41.26 (26.19) 14:07.35 (26.09) 14:32.68 (25.33)
2 Wiffen, Nathan FR California 14:41.69 14:34.17 IV25 28
r:+0.70 23.82 49.57 (25.75)
13:42.86 (26.26) 14:09.06 (26.20) 14:34.17 (25.11)
3 Erisman, Ryan FR California 14:44.27 14:37.58 IV25 27
r:+0.67 24.07 50.39 (26.32)
13:45.81 (26.60) 14:12.30 (26.49) 14:37.58 (25.28)
4 Ekk, Ethan FR Stanford 14:43.13 14:42.37 IV25 26
r:+0.73 24.27 50.59 (26.32)
13:49.47 (26.69) 14:16.14 (26.67) 14:42.37 (26.23)
5 Custer, Liam SR Stanford 14:44.51 14:49.21 NC 25
r:+0.77 24.76 51.51 (26.75)
13:58.45 (26.54) 14:23.97 (25.52) 14:49.21 (25.24)
6 Klein, Frederic SO California 14:54.01 14:52.80 NC 24
r:+0.77 24.04 50.08 (26.04)
13:57.42 (28.06) 14:25.46 (28.04) 14:52.80 (27.34)
7 Norris, Lance SR NC State 14:52.16 14:53.70 NC 23
r:+0.74 24.00 49.96 (25.96)
14:00.49 (27.70) 14:27.75 (27.26) 14:53.70 (25.95)
8 Marsteiner, Mat SO NC State 14:58.36 14:57.35 NC 22
r:+0.76 24.48 50.58 (26.10)
14:03.32 (27.93) 14:30.87 (27.55) 14:57.35 (26.48)
Women’s 200 backstroke
Claire Curzan is your new American and NCAA record holder. She went 1:46.08 to trounce her NCAA, American and U.S. Open records.
Virginia added a fifth-place result from Tess Howley and seventh-place in Charlotte Wilson. That stretches the lead for the Cavaliers over California to 263 points.
NC State’s Erika Pelaez finished second in 1:48.92, with teammate Leah Shackley fourth and Kennedy Noble sixth. Claire Jansen broke 1:50 by .01 for Pitt.
Event 35 Women 200 Yard Backstroke
=========================================================================
MEET: @ 1:47.38 2/22/2025 Claire Curzan, UVA-AC
CONF: # 1:46.82 3/22/2025 Claire Curzan, UVA-AC
AMER: $ 1:46.82 3/22/2025 Claire Curzan, UVA-AC
USOP: % 1:46.82 3/22/2025 Regan Smith, Riptide
NCAA: ^ 1:46.82 3/22/2025 Claire Curzan, UVA-AC
Pool: & 1:47.76 3/19/2022 Regan Smith, Stanford-PC
1:53.31 IV25 Invited NCAA 2025
1:54.80 NC NCAA
Name Year School Prelims Finals Points
=========================================================================
=== A - Final ===
1 Curzan, Claire UVA 1:50.16 1:46.09#IV25 32
r:+0.54 24.77 51.39 (26.62)
1:18.62 (27.23) 1:46.09 (27.47)
2 Pelaez, Erika SO NC State 1:49.59 1:48.92 IV25 28
r:+0.54 25.54 53.21 (27.67)
1:21.03 (27.82) 1:48.92 (27.89)
3 Jansen, Claire SR Pitt 1:50.75 1:49.99 IV25 27
r:+0.75 25.40 52.75 (27.35)
1:21.17 (28.42) 1:49.99 (28.82)
4 Shackley, Leah SO NC State 1:50.90 1:50.36 IV25 26
r:+0.57 25.57 52.85 (27.28)
1:21.07 (28.22) 1:50.36 (29.29)
5 Howley, Tess JR UVA 1:51.10 1:51.01 IV25 25
r:+0.59 25.93 53.77 (27.84)
1:22.23 (28.46) 1:51.01 (28.78)
6 Noble, Kennedy SR NC State 1:51.59 1:51.09 IV25 24
r:+0.57 25.89 53.77 (27.88)
1:22.35 (28.58) 1:51.09 (28.74)
7 Wilson, Charlot SO UVA 1:52.02 1:51.45 IV25 23
r:+0.71 26.56 54.38 (27.82)
1:22.64 (28.26) 1:51.45 (28.81)
8 Frei, Sophia JR UNC 1:51.31 1:51.46 IV25 22
r:+0.73 25.93 53.34 (27.41)
1:21.79 (28.45) 1:51.46 (29.67)
Men’s 200 backstroke
David King jumped from second in prelims to take the open race in the 200 back. King went 1:38.14. After seven of eight A finalists wet 1:39 in prelims, only King and Josh Zuchowski cracked into the 1:38s. The Stanford senior was second in 1:38.73. Turns out the only other swimmers to get back to the 13:9s was Cal’s Keaton Jones, who finished third in 1:39.78.
So slow was the A final that Tommy Janton, in ninth place, went 1:38.98, which would’ve been third. In fact, times three through six came from the B final. Fourth place in the B final was faster than third place in the A final!
Part of that was the DQ of Virginia’s Jack Aikins, who had been 1:39.54 in the morning.
Event 36 Men 200 Yard Backstroke
=========================================================================
MEET: @ 1:37.19 2/22/2025 Gabriel Jett, California-AC
CONF: # 1:36.40 3/29/2025 Destin Lasco, California-AC
AMER: $ 1:35.37 3/26/2024 Destin Lasco, California
USOP: % 1:34.24 3/29/2025 Hubert Kos, Texas
NCAA: ^ 1:34.24 3/29/2024 Hubert Kos, Texas
Pool: & 1:35.73 3/26/2016 Ryan Murphy, California-PC
1:40.13 IV25 Invited NCAA 2025
1:42.14 NC NCAA
Name Year School Prelims Finals Points
=========================================================================
=== A - Final ===
1 King, David SO UVA 1:39.22 1:38.14 IV25 32
r:+0.71 23.29 48.29 (25.00)
1:13.13 (24.84) 1:38.14 (25.01)
2 Zuchowski, Josh SR Stanford 1:39.08 1:38.73 IV25 28
r:+0.59 23.57 49.06 (25.49)
1:14.40 (25.34) 1:38.73 (24.33)
3 Jones, Keaton JR California 1:39.79 1:39.78 IV25 27
r:+0.82 23.69 48.93 (25.24)
1:14.58 (25.65) 1:39.78 (25.20)
4 Millard, Jackso SR Louisville 1:39.90 1:40.32 NC 26
r:+0.68 23.15 48.72 (25.57)
1:14.30 (25.58) 1:40.32 (26.02)
5 Diehl, Daniel JR NC State 1:39.53 1:40.53 NC 25
r:+0.71 23.31 49.00 (25.69)
1:14.93 (25.93) 1:40.53 (25.60)
6 Najera, Humbert JR California 1:40.03 1:40.62 NC 24
r:+0.69 23.60 48.67 (25.07)
1:14.61 (25.94) 1:40.62 (26.01)
7 Berube, Jack JR SMU 1:39.29 1:41.27 NC 23
r:+0.78 23.32 48.57 (25.25)
1:14.67 (26.10) 1:41.27 (26.60)
-- Aikins, Jack SR UVA 1:39.54 DQ
Toes over lip of gutter after the start
r:+0.57 23.12 48.23 (25.11)
1:12.97 (24.74) DQ (25.33)
=== B - Final ===
9 Janton, Tommy JR ND 1:40.53 1:38.98 IV25 20
r:+0.55 22.76 47.52 (24.76)
1:13.19 (25.67) 1:38.98 (25.79)
10 Balogh, Levente SO VA Tech 1:40.29 1:39.22 IV25 17
r:+0.61 23.20 48.24 (25.04)
1:13.47 (25.23) 1:39.22 (25.75)
11 Roose, Andy FR VA Tech 1:40.72 1:39.37 IV25 16
r:+0.61 22.94 48.24 (25.30)
1:13.61 (25.37) 1:39.37 (25.76)
12 Melnychuk, Davi FR UNC 1:40.42 1:39.46 IV25 15
r:+0.75 23.26 48.40 (25.14)
1:13.89 (25.49) 1:39.46 (25.57)
Women’s 100 freestyle
A loaded 100 free did not disappoint, with three swimmers under the pool record set in 2022 at NCAAs by Gretchen Walsh. It was her former teammate Anna Moesch that ended up on top, coming home hard off the final wall to surge past Torri Huske to win in 45.71. She just got Huske at the wall, the Stanford senior touching in 45.79.
Virginia’s Sara Curtis was third in 46.03. It was a gap back to Julia Dennis in 46.79. Stanford could only jump to 2-6-8 in the final, which Mary-Ambre Moluh of Cal checked by finishing fifth, as those two teams joust for second.
Event 37 Women 100 Yard Freestyle
=========================================================================
MEET: @ 45.16 2/24/2024 Gretchen Walsh, UVA-AC
CONF: # 44.71 3/22/2025 Gretchen Walsh, UVA-AC
AMER: $ 44.71 3/22/2025 Gretchen Walsh, UVA-AC
USOP: % 44.71 2/22/2025 Gretchen Walsh, UVA-AC
NCAA: ^ 44.71 3/22/2025 Gretchen Walsh, UVA-AC
Pool: & 46.05 3/19/2022 Gretchen Walsh, Virginia-VA
48.11 IV25 Invited NCAA 2025
48.60 NC NCAA
Name Year School Prelims Finals Points
=========================================================================
=== A - Final ===
1 Moesch, Anna SO UVA 46.20 45.71&IV25 32
r:+0.69 10.46 21.89 (11.43)
33.85 (11.96) 45.71 (11.86)
2 Huske, Torri SR Stanford 46.94 45.79&IV25 28
r:+0.60 10.25 21.77 (11.52)
33.63 (11.86) 45.79 (12.16)
3 Curtis, Sara FR UVA 46.85 46.03&IV25 27
r:+0.64 10.52 22.06 (11.54)
34.11 (12.05) 46.03 (11.92)
4 Dennis, Julia SR Louisville 47.03 46.79 IV25 26
r:+0.65 10.38 22.27 (11.89)
34.64 (12.37) 46.79 (12.15)
5 Moluh, Mary-Amb SO California 47.25 46.87 IV25 25
r:+0.70 10.68 22.29 (11.61)
34.60 (12.31) 46.87 (12.27)
6 Olasewere, Anna FR Stanford 47.38 47.17 IV25 24
r:+0.66 10.66 22.61 (11.95)
34.96 (12.35) 47.17 (12.21)
7 Wall, Tatum SR Duke 47.22 47.58 IV25 23
r:+0.68 10.64 22.61 (11.97)
35.10 (12.49) 47.58 (12.48)
8 Johnson, Gigi SR Stanford 47.48 47.84 IV25 22
r:+0.67 10.82 22.77 (11.95)
35.31 (12.54) 47.84 (12.53)
Men’s 100 freestyle
Brendan Whitfield played spoiler for Virginia Tech, the junior going 40.93 seconds to spoil the NC State party. The Wolfpack had four of the top six seeds, but Whitfield got to the top step of the podium.
Kaii Winkler was second for NC State in 41.10. Third was Quintin McCarty in 41.12; he had been 40.88 in the morning prelims. Jerry Fox was sixth and Hudson Williams was seventh for the Wolfpack.
Julian Koch of Pitt was fourth, with Louisville’s Nikita Sheremet fifth.
Stanford’s Andres Dupont Cabrera couldn’t improve on prelims by finishing eighth. That meant the 10-11 result from Cal’s Lucca Battaglini and Martin Wrede opened up the Golden Bears’ advantage to 97 points.
Event 38 Men 100 Yard Freestyle
=========================================================================
MEET: @ 40.62 2/24/2024 Christopher Guiliano, Notre Dame-AC
CONF: # 40.36 3/29/2025 Jack Alexy, California-AC
AMER: $ 39.90 3/24/2018 Caeleb Dressel, Florida
USOP: % 39.83 3/29/2025 Jordan Crooks, Tennessee
NCAA: ^ 39.90 3/24/2018 Jordan Crooks, Tennessee
Pool: & 40.46 3/26/2016 Caeleb Dressel, Florida-FL
41.95 IV25 Invited NCAA 2025
42.55 NC NCAA
Name Year School Prelims Finals Points
=========================================================================
=== A - Final ===
1 Whitfield, Bren JR VA Tech 41.28 40.93 IV25 32
r:+0.68 9.11 19.39 (10.28)
30.12 (10.73) 40.93 (10.81)
2 Winkler, Kaii SO NC State 41.03 41.10 IV25 28
r:+0.66 9.19 19.58 (10.39)
30.25 (10.67) 41.10 (10.85)
3 McCarty, Quinti JR NC State 40.88 41.12 IV25 27
r:+0.63 9.05 19.40 (10.35)
30.18 (10.78) 41.12 (10.94)
4 Koch, Julian SO Pitt 41.30 41.26 IV25 26
r:+0.63 9.01 19.61 (10.60)
30.39 (10.78) 41.26 (10.87)
5 Sheremet, Nikit FR Louisville 41.53 41.39 IV25 25
r:+0.66 9.09 19.52 (10.43)
30.45 (10.93) 41.39 (10.94)
6 Fox, Jerry JR NC State 41.30 41.40 IV25 24
r:+0.66 9.35 19.66 (10.31)
30.39 (10.73) 41.40 (11.01)
7 Williams, Hudso JR NC State 41.48 41.79 IV25 23
r:+0.60 9.40 20.08 (10.68)
30.99 (10.91) 41.79 (10.80)
8 Dupont Cabrera, SR Stanford 41.71 41.88 IV25 22
r:+0.58 9.41 20.04 (10.63)
30.94 (10.90) 41.88 (10.94)
Women’s 200 breaststroke
Lucy Bell’s win in the 200 breast vaults Stanford into second place, 13.5 points up on Cal. Bell went 2:02.67, three tenths up on Aimee Canny of Virginia on what became a two-person race with no one else under 2:05. Bell was complemented by Addie Robillard in sixth, plus 10th for Caroline Bricker. (It could’ve been more if not for a Lucy Thomas DQ in the B final.)
Anastasia Gorbenko of Louisville was third in 2:05.02. Kaelyn Gridley finished fourth for Duke, ahead of the Cardinals’ Mia Cheatwood. Eneli Efimova would’ve been fifth overall with her 2:06.33 that won the B final for ninth.
Event 39 Women 200 Yard Breaststroke
=========================================================================
MEET: @ 2:02.24 2/24/2024 Alexandra Walsh, UVA-AC
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: & 2:02.19 3/19/2022 Kate Douglass, Virginia-VA
2:09.58 IV25 Invited NCAA 2025
2:11.27 NC NCAA
Name Year School Prelims Finals Points
=========================================================================
=== A - Final ===
1 Bell, Lucy SR Stanford 2:04.82 2:02.67 IV25 32
r:+0.69 28.43 59.73 (31.30)
1:31.28 (31.55) 2:02.67 (31.39)
2 Canny, Aimee SR UVA 2:06.61 2:02.97 IV25 28
r:+0.74 28.13 59.38 (31.25)
1:31.03 (31.65) 2:02.97 (31.94)
3 Gorbenko, Anast SO Louisville 2:06.40 2:05.02 IV25 27
r:+0.67 28.30 1:00.24 (31.94)
1:32.37 (32.13) 2:05.02 (32.65)
4 Gridley, Kaelyn SR Duke 2:07.39 2:05.55 IV25 26
r:+0.76 28.33 1:00.23 (31.90)
1:32.36 (32.13) 2:05.55 (33.19)
5 Cheatwood, Mia SR Louisville 2:06.85 2:06.40 IV25 25
r:+0.70 28.86 1:00.60 (31.74)
1:33.19 (32.59) 2:06.40 (33.21)
6 Robillard, Adal FR Stanford 2:07.39 2:07.36 IV25 24
r:+0.67 29.03 1:01.30 (32.27)
1:34.01 (32.71) 2:07.36 (33.35)
7 Umstead, Sophia FR UVA 2:07.00 2:07.48 IV25 23
r:+0.67 28.39 1:00.31 (31.92)
1:33.26 (32.95) 2:07.48 (34.22)
8 Herkle, Kim Eme 5Y Louisville 2:07.45 2:07.52 IV25 22
r:+0.69 28.55 1:00.61 (32.06)
1:33.74 (33.13) 2:07.52 (33.78)
Men’s 200 breaststroke
Women’s 400 freestyle relay
Men’s 400 freestyle relay
