Gustavo Saldo & Dillon Wright Swim-Off For Finals Berth In 500 Free At ACCs, And Tie Again
02/19/2025 12:47 PM
By James Sutherland on SwimSwam
2025 ACC Swimming and Diving Championships
- February 18-22, 2025
- Greensboro Aquatic Center — Greensboro, North Carolina
- Defending Champions: NC State
- Full Event Schedule (pre-scratch timeline)
- Championship Central
- Psych Sheets
- Live Results
- Live Streaming
- Day 1 Recap | Day 2 Prelims Recap
Two swimmers were faced with a tall task during the opening preliminary session of the 2025 ACC Swimming & Diving Championships on Wednesday.
Louisville senior Gustavo Saldo and Virginia freshman Dillon Wright tied for 24th in the men’s 500 free heats in a time of 4:20.80, leading them to a swim-off for the last lane in tonight’s ‘C’ final.
In the prelims, Saldo had more front-half speed, and was a second and a half clear of Wright at the 400-yard split, with Wright rocketing home with 26.04/25.55 closing 50s.
In the swim-off, the two swimmers stayed much closer together than their splits from the prelims, flipping within three-tenths of each other at the 300, and at the 400, Wright was up by 44 one-hundredths.
Wright then made a big move on the penultimate 50, splitting 25.84 to Saldo’s 26.38 to open up nearly a full second lead (0.98), but Saldo had saved up for the push for home. Saldo blasted his way to a closing split of 23.93, catching Wright on the last stroke as the two swimmers incredibly tied again, putting up matching times of 4:21.63.
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Saldo owns a personal best of 4:17.06, set at the 2022 Purdue Invitational, while Wright set his career-best at 4:18.69 at the 2024 Tennessee Invitational this past November.
It’s not yet clear if the two swimmers will swim off again or how they’ll decide who advances to the final, though Saldo is notably listed in 24th on the results page with Wright in 25th.
Cal fifth-year Lucas Henveaux led the heats this morning in a time of 4:12.42, with NC State’s Owen Lloyd (4:14.13) and Virginia’s David King (4:14.18) ranking 2nd and 3rd.
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