It was a day dominated by the Atlantic Coast Conference, including a sizzler from N.C. State’s Anton Ipsen.
At Thursday’s portion of the Nike Cup, swimmers from ACC schools won every event except for the final women’s relay.
Finals started off strong for Duke. The Blue Devils won the first three events of the evening: the men’s and women’s 200-yard freestyle relay and the 500-yard freestyle. Verity Abel won the women’s 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:47.52, earning a NCAA ‘B’ time standard.
After the women’s 500-yard freestyle, it was North Carolina State’s turn to go on a winning streak. Wolfpack swimmers won the men’s 500-yard freestyle and both the men’s and women’s 200-yard individual medley and 50-yard freestyle events.
The Wolfpack wins were highlighted by Anton Ipsen in the 500-yard freestyle and Ryan Held in the 50-yard freestyle. In the 200-yard individual medley North Carolina State was led by Alexia Zevnik and Soeren Dahl. Zevnik won the event on the women’s side and Dahl won the men’s title.
Yale was the only non-ACC school to win an event Thursday night, as they brought home the 400-yard medley relay. The Bulldog relay team consisted of backstroker Bella Hindley, breaststroker Paulina Kaminski, butterflier Maddy Zimmerman and freestyler Kina Zhou.
Duke wrapped up the night by winning the 400-yard medley relay event for the men. The Blue Devil team consisted of backstroker Kazuma Takabayashi, breaststroker Peter Kropp, butterflier David Armstrong and freestyler James Peek.
Going into Friday, No. 23 Duke leads the men’s field with 562 points. No. 8 North Carolina State is in second with 472 points and the U.S. Naval Academy rounds out the top three with 384 points.
On the women’s side, No. 21 Duke is ahead with 555 points. No. 2 North Carolina is in second place with 480 points and Yale is in third with 472 points.
Tomorrow’s events include the 400-yard individual medley, 100-yard butterfly, 200-yard freestyle, 100-yard breaststroke and 100-yard backstroke.
