GREENSBORO, N.C. – Jack Ryan rallied on his sixth and final dive to win the 1-meter championship and earn the first Atlantic Coast Conference title for the Stanford men’s swimming and diving program.
Ryan trailed Miami’s Maxwell Flory by 9.25 points going into the final round at the Greensboro Aquatic Center on Wednesday – the second of five days of the ACC Championships meet. But when Flory closed with his lowest score of the competition, Ryan had his opening.
Ryan executed a reverse 1 ½ somersault 2 ½ twist free with a 3.2 degree of difficulty for scores of 8’s and even a 9. Ryan’s score of 73.50 on the dive gave Ryan 411.95 points to Flory’s 400.50.
Ryan’s victory highlighted a strong day for Stanford, which holds second place behind Cal in the team competition, 457- 402.
Ryan took the lead on his opening dive – a forward 2 ½ somersault 1 twist pike – for his best score, of 75.20. He led through four rounds, only for Flory to rally in the fourth and fifth rounds with scores of 80.00 and 76.50 to take the lead, at 347.70-338.45. But Ryan had three scores of 73.50 or higher overall and was the most consistent.
This was third conference title for Ryan, a senior symbolic systems major, who was fourth in the 3-meter on Tuesday. His previous two conference titles came from a springboard sweep at the 2024 Pac-12 Championships.
Stanford swimmers earned two third-place finishes Wednesday. Henry McFadden earned the distinction of becoming Stanford’s first All-ACC selection. The top three places in individual events and relay winners gain the title of All-ACC.
McFadden was third in the 500-yard freestyle in 4:12.33, a personal best that places the sophomore at No. 5 on Stanford’s all-time list, up from No. 11 from his previous best of 4:14.35.
In the 200 individual medley, senior Ron Polonsky placed third in 1:41.82, to earn all-conference honors. Rick Mihm was seventh in the final, in 1:43.17. In the consolation final of the same event, Gibson Holmes was second with a PB of 1:42.65, moving up from No. 11 to No. 9 on Stanford’s all-time list.
The Stanford 200 freestyle relay team of Andrei Minakov, Kaihan Gu, Avery Voss, Jonathan Tan was fourth in a season-best 1:15.79. In all three relays so far, Stanford has a top-four finish in each.
In all, Stanford swimmers set five personal bests on Wednesday, including Voss in the 50 free (19.42) prelims, and Liam Custer (4:16.68) and Ethan Dang (4:36.68) in the 500 free prelims.
Men’s Swimming and Diving
ACC Championships
At Greensboro Aquatic Center
Team scores (Day 2 of 5) – 1, California 457; 2, Stanford 402; 2, North Carolina 383; 4, North Carolina State 379; 5, Louisville 282; 6, Florida State 256.5; 7, Virginia 242; 8, Virginia Tech 221; 9, Georgia Tech 215; 10, SMU 211; 11, Pitt 201.5; 12, Duke 105; 13, Boston College 62; Miami 52; Notre Dame 19.
200 freestyle relay – 1, North Carolina State 1:14.29; 4, Stanford (Andrei Minakov, Kaihan Gu, Avery Voss, Jonathan Tan) 1:15.79.
500 free – Final: 1, Lucas Henveaux (Cal) 4:08.83; 3, Henry McFadden (Stanford) 4:12.33 (PB; No. 5 Stanford AT); 12, Liam Custer (Stanford) 4:17.12. Prelims: 8, McFadden 4:15.47; 13, Custer 4:16.68 (PB); 32, Gabe Machado (Stanford) 4:22.80; 48, Ethan Dang (Stanford) 4:36.68 (PB).
200 individual medley – Final: 1, Carles Coll Marti (Virginia Tech) 1:40.95; 3, Ron Polonsky (Stanford) 1:41.82; 7, Rick Mihm (Stanford) 1:43.17; 10, Gibson Holmes (Stanford) 1:42.65 (PB; No. 9 Stanford AT). Prelims: 4, Polonsky 1:42.75; 7, Mihm 1:43.02; 14, Holmes 1:43.76; 31, Zhier Fan (Stanford) 1:45.97; 35, Daniel Li (Stanford) 1:46.52; 51, Go Nagaoka (Stanford) 1:49.70.
50 free – Final: 1, Quintin McCarty (North Carolina State) 18.63; 13 (tie), Kaihan Gu (Stanford) and Jonathan Tan (Stanford), 19.33. Prelims: 13, Tan 19.33; 14, Gu 19.34; 25, Avery Voss (Stanford) 19.42 (PB); 35, Ethan Harrington (Stanford) 19.56; 45, Andres Dupont Cabrera (Stanford) 19.85.
1-meter diving – Final: 1, Jack Ryan (Stanford) 411.95. Prelims: 1, Ryan 392.85; 9, Hunter Hollenbeck (Stanford) 306.05; 17, Misha Andriyuk (Stanford) 285.80.
Stanford’s Schedule (all times Pacific)
Thursday
Prelims (6:30 a.m.)
400 individual medley (Liam Custer, Gibson Holmes, Rick Mihm, Josh Zuchowski)
100 butterfly (Kaihan Gu, Ethan Harrington, Hayden Kwan, Andrei Minakov, Aaron Sequeira, Jonathan Tan, Avery Voss)
200 freestyle (Andres Dupont Cabrera, Gabe Machado, Henry McFadden, Andrei Minakov, Henry Morrissey, Jonathan Tan)
Finals (2:31 p.m.)
400 individual medley
100 butterfly
200 freestyle
Friday
Prelims (6:30 a.m.)
200 butterfly (Gibson Holmes, Henry McFadden, Rick Mihm, Andrei Minakov, Josh Zuchowski)
100 backstroke (Finn Harland, Hayden Kwan, Aaron Sequeira, Josh Zuchowski)
100 breaststroke (Ethan Dang, Zhier Fan, Daniel Li, Abram Mueller, Go Nagaoka, Ron Polonsky, Hayden Zheng)
Platform diving (Misha Andriyuk, Hunter Hollenbeck, Jack Ryan)
Finals (2:31 p.m.)
200 butterfly
100 backstroke
100 breaststroke
Platform diving
400 medley relay (Stanford)
Saturday
Prelims (6:30 a.m.)
200 backstroke (Finn Harland, Hayden Kwan, Gabe Machado, Aaron Sequeira, Josh Zuchowski)
100 freestyle (Kaihan Gu, Ethan Harrington, Henry McFadden, Andrei Minakov, Jonathan Tan, Avery Voss)
200 breaststroke (Ethan Dang, Zhier Fan, Daniel Li, Abram Mueller, Go Nagaoka, Ron Polonsky, Hayden Zheng)
1,650 free (Early heats: Liam Custer, Gabe Machado, Henry Morrissey)
Finals (2:31 p.m.)
1,650 free (Later heats: Liam Custer, Gabe Machado, Henry Morrissey)
200 backstroke
100 freestyle
200 breaststroke
400 freestyle relay (Stanford)