NC State Breaks Own ACC Championship Meet Record in the 200 Free Relay (1:14.29)
02/19/2025 07:21 PM
By Claire Wong on SwimSwam
2025 ACC SWIMMING AND DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS
- February 18-22, 2025
- Greensboro Aquatic Center — Greensboro, North Carolina
- Defending Champions: NC State (results)
- Full Event Schedule (pre-scratch timeline)
- Championship Central
- Psych Sheets
- Live Results (also available on Meet Mobile as "2025 ACC Championship"
- Live Streaming
- Live Recap – Day 1 Finals
- Live Recap – Day 2 Finals
MEN'S 200 FREE RELAY – TIMED FINALS
- NCAA Record: 1:13.35, Florida – 2023 NCAA Championships
- ACC Record: 1:14.13, NC State – 2024 NCAA Championships
ACC Championship Record: 1:14.44, NC State – 2023- NCAA 'A' Cut: 1:16.80
- NCAA 'B' Cut: 1:17.13
Top 8:
- NC State – 1:14.29
- Cal – 1:15.10
- Virginia Tech – 1:15.53
- Stanford – 1:15.79
- FSU – 1:15.86
- UNC – 1:15.88
- Virginia – 1:16.61
- SMU – 1:16.74
While Cal made a strong debut last night, winning and setting meet records in both relays and consequently dethroning NC State in the 200 medley relay, NCSU responded tonight with a win in their signature event, the 200 freestyle relay. The quartet of Quintin McCarty, Jerry Fox, Larry Salls, and Luke Miller clocked in at 1:14.29—nearly a full second ahead of Cal's 1:15.10. Although this time was just over a tenth of a second shy of their American Record, which was set at last year's NCAA Championships, it shaved a tenth off of the ACC Championship Meet Record (and previous American Record), which was also set last year.
Splits Comparison:
| Splits | NC State – 2024 NCAA Championships (Current American Record) | NC State – 2024 ACC Championships (Previous Meet Record) | NC State – 2025 ACC Championships (New Meet Record) |
| 1st Leg | Noah Henderson (18.93) | Quintin McCarty (18.93) | Quintin McCarty (18.78) |
| 2nd Leg | Luke Miller (18.23) | Larry Salls (18.53) | Jerry Fox (18.40) |
| 3rd Leg | Jerry Fox (18.44) | Noah Henderson (18.45) | Larry Salls (18.43) |
| 4th Leg | Quintin McCarty (18.53) | Luke Miller (18.53) | Luke Miller (18.68) |
| FINAL TIME | 1:14.13 | 1:14.44 | 1:44.29 |
NC State's record-breaking relay at the 2025 ACC Championships featured three returning swimmers from last year's squad, though the lineup has evolved depending on which record you compare it to. Following last year's ACC Championships, NC State swapped Larry Salls for Jerry Fox in the NCAA lineup. However, with the graduation of Noah Henderson, who was on both relays, the Wolfpack opted to utilize both Salls and Fox.
One of the key factors in NC State's new meet record was Quintin McCarty's lead-off split of 18.78, which was over a tenth faster than both his own and Noah Henderson's 18.93 from last year's ACC and American records. This improvement, combined with Jerry Fox's 18.40 second leg, provided the decisive edge that pushed this year's team below the previous ACC meet record. For the third leg, Larry Salls' split (18.43) matched both Fox's from the American Record and Henderson's from the previous meet record. Luke Miller, the anchor, was just over a tenth slower compared to his own split from last year and McCarty's anchor leg in the American Record swim. Interestingly, it was Miller’s split at NCAA’s last year that was most crucial in helping the Wolfpack break the American record.
This performance was a huge improvement from their 200 free relay at their midseason Wolfpack Elite Invite, where Salls (19.50), Fox (18.72), Kaii Winkler (18.98), and Sam Hoover (18.82) combined for a 1:16.02. Salls was nearly a second faster tonight, and Fox was over 3 tenths quicker. McCarty and Miller were, however, notably absent from that relay.
Read the full story on SwimSwam: NC State Breaks Own ACC Championship Meet Record in the 200 Free Relay (1:14.29)
