GREENSBORO, N.C. – Virginia Tech got off to a solid start of the 2019 ACC Men's Swimming Championships as the 800 free relay team, claimed bronze and set a new Tech record during the opening session on Wednesday evening at the Greensboro Aquatic Center.
Freshmen Antani Ivanov and Blake Manoff joined sophomore Lane Stone and senior Norbert Szabo on the relay squad that turned in Virginia Tech record setting time of 6:16.08. The time also gave the Hokies an NCAA Automatic qualifying time, their first of the season.
Tech's previous record was 6:19.69, set in 2014 by Morgan Latimer, Owen Burns, Lucas Bureau and Jan Switkowski.
"The 800 free relay was really, really, really good," said head coach Sergio Lopez Miro. "It was very exciting to watch. We thought Antani maybe go a little bit faster, but he's perhaps still adjusting a bit to this level. But altogether it was a very good relay. Lane had a great swim and finished out [on the anchor leg] with a 1:32.47. We broke the school record by over three seconds and made an NCAA cut, so it's very exciting to already know these four guys are going to NCAAs. We will look to keep that momentum going into tomorrow. I think, like I said last week during the women's championship, that we will get better every session. It was a very exciting day for the Hokie swimming and diving team and for Hokie Nation."
The Hokies opened the evening with an eighth-place finish in the 200 medley relay. Jake Lamparella, Szabo, Ivanov and Ian Ho turned in a time of 1:25.75. The mark is the fourth fastest in Tech history. They replaced the time of 1:25.82 set by Morgan Latimer, Brandon Fiala, Drake Becksted and CJ Fiala in 2015.
"I think we did pretty well to open ACCs," said head coach Sergio Lopez Miro. "Our 200 medley relay wasn't as fast as we believe we can be. Jake was top three at the turn, but he flipped and was barely able to push off the wall, so the poor kid had a rough split, but we still turned in the fourth fastest time in program history. So I think today was a good start to the week."
The Hokies will be back in the pool Thursday morning beginning at 10 a.m. with the prelims of the 500 freestyle.
