Virginia Women & NC State Men Win Dual Meet As 12 Pool Records Fall in Raleigh
NC State vs UVA
- January 23, 2026
- Raleigh, North Carolina — Willis R. Casey Aquatic Center
- SCY (25 Yards)
- Full Meet Results Available on Meet Mobile: “NC State vs UVA”
- Team Scores:
** Women: #1 UVA 181 — #8 NC State 113
** Men: #6 NC State 172.5 — #14 UVA 89.5
The NC State/UVA meet was initially scheduled to be a two-day dual, but it was shortened to just one day due to the winter storm, and the swimmers showed up in a huge way.
The Virginia women and NC State men won sweeping victories with the UVA women breaking 10 pool records and the Max Carlsen breaking two for the NC State men.
Women’s Meet Recap
The UVA women broke ten pool records on Friday, led by three swimmers who each broke two pool records.
They opened the meet with a sweep of the top two spots and a pool record in the women’s 200 medley relay. The ‘A’ relay of Sara Curtis (23.32), Emma Weber (26.43), Claire Curzan (22.10), and Anna Moesch (20.82) swam 1:32.67 to come in almost two seconds ahead of their ‘B’ relay’s time of 1:34.47.
Moesch’s 20.82 split on the anchor leg is the fastest she has ever split, marking only her 2nd time under 21 seconds behind the 20.85 she swam at the final CSCAA Dual Meet Challenge meet.
NC State freshman Eneli Jefimova had the fastest breaststroke split in the field at 26.40 on the NC State ‘A’ relay that finished 3rd in 1:34.61.
Virginia also picked up the win and pool record in the 400 free relay. Curtis led off in 47.13. Curzan split 46.45 on the 2nd leg. Madi Mintenko was 47.65 on the 3rd leg, and Moesch anchored in 46.39 to touch in 3:07.62. This was a new season best time for the team, bringing them in just three hundredths behind Stanford’s nation-leading time of 3:07.59.
Claire Curzan had an electric day for Virginia, setting two new pool records in both distances of butterfly on top of her two relay records. She started her morning with a massive time of 1:51.35 in the 200 fly, jumping up to 2nd in the country this season with her 2nd fastest time ever. She led Carly Novelline (1:54.36) and Lana Pudar (1:56.16) to a UVA top-three sweep.
In the 100 fly, she picked up another record, touching in 49.13, a new season best and just off her personal best of 49.02 from the 2025 ACC Championships. This is the 2nd fastest time in the country this season, just two tenths behind Torri Huske’s 48.90.
Another POOL RECORD for Claire Curzan , this time in the 100 Fly #GoHoos pic.twitter.com/xikJESWUvk (https://t.co/xikJESWUvk)
Katie Grimes also broke two pool records, starting with the 1000 freestyle. She touched in 9:28.49, her fastest collegiate swim in the event, coming in a little under six seconds ahead of teammate Cavan Gormsen’s 9:34.03 for 2nd. Grimes’ swim is the 4th fastest time in the country this season.
She also won the 500 freestyle in pool record fashion. Her 4:36.04 was a new season best, dropping from the 4:38.07 she swam in October against Virginia. She led a UVA top-three sweep of the event with Gormsen swimming 4:40.85 for 2nd and Bailey Hartman touching in 4:43.01 for 3rd.
Katie Grimes SHATTERS the pool record in the 500 Free #GoHoos pic.twitter.com/BexwB1ZX1u
— Virginia Swimming and Dive (@UVASwimDive) January 23, 2026 (https://twitter.com/UVASwimDive/status/2014802176820781301?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
Aimee Canny won three events for the Cavaliers, starting with the 200 freestyle, where her 1:42.81 led a UVA sweep with Madi Mintenko finishing 2nd (1:44.54) and Bailey Hartman finishing 3rd (1:45.08). All three have been faster this season. Canny’s time was also a new record.
Canny also set a pool record in the 200 breast, where she swam a new season best 2:06.54 to take two tenths off the 2:06.77 she swam at the Tennessee Invite. This is also a new lifetime best for her, dropping from the 2:06.70 she swam at the 2024 Tennessee Invite. NC State’s Eneli Jefimova finished 2nd in 2:07.67.
Finally, she led another UVA sweep in the women’s 200 IM. She touched in 1:54.77, coming in more than a second ahead of Leah Hayes (1:56.10) in 2nd, Sophia Umstead (1:57.52) in 3rd, and Zoe Skirboll (1:57.98) in 4th.
Sara Curtis and Anna Moesch split the sprint freestyle events and pool records. Curtis broke the 50 free pool record, swimming 21.37 to add about two tenths from her lifetime and season best of 21.18 while Moesch finished 2nd in 21.44.
Sara Curtis with a POOL RECORD in the 50 Free (21.37) #GoHoos pic.twitter.com/iek8eIOiG3
— Virginia Swimming and Dive (@UVASwimDive) January 23, 2026 (https://twitter.com/UVASwimDive/status/2014790474402349512?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
In the next event, Moesch swam 46.40 in the 100 free to come in two seconds ahead of Madi Mintenko’s 48.24 for 2nd, taking down yet another Willis R. Casey pool record.
Another POOL RECORD. Anna Moesch takes down the 100 Free record previously held by Kate Douglass #GoHoos pic.twitter.com/i3SgSccZX3
— Virginia Swimming and Dive (@UVASwimDive) January 23, 2026 (https://twitter.com/UVASwimDive/status/2014795225600840136?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
While Virginia had a very strong meet, NC State still picked up event wins in three of the swimming events and both diving events.
Men’s Recap
The UVA women did not have a monopoly on the pool records. NC State freshman Max Carlsen had a monster meet that saw him set two new pool records and a new ACC record.
In the men’s 1000 freestyle, Carlsen swam 8:41.12, leading an NC State sweep with teammates Lance Norris swimming 8:50.18 for 2nd and Aaron Davidson swimming 9:00.71 for 3rd. This swim was a new ACC record, taking Norris’s record time of 8:43.60 from January of last year. This is the 3rd fastest time in the country this season, coming in behind Ahmed Jaouadi’s 8:36.65 for Florida and Zalan Sarkany’s 8:39.94 for Indiana.
Carlsen also picked up the win and a pool record in the 500 freestyle, touching in 4:11.89, a new lifetime best by nearly three seconds from the 4:14.79 he swam at the 2025 NC State Invite in November. Again, he led an NC State sweep in the event with Mikolaj Filipiak finishing 2nd in 4:20.07, Lance Norris finishing 3rd in 4:23.63, and Kyle Ponsler finishing 4th in 4:24.97.
The NC State men picked up an easy victory over UVA through the rest of the meet. They started with the top time in the 200 medley relay with the team of Hudson Williams (21.09), Arsen Kozhakhmetov (23.85), Aiden Hayes (19.90), and Quintin McCarty (18.38) swimming 1:23.22.
They came in more than a second ahead of Virginia’s 1:24.45 for 2nd. Thomas Heilman swam the butterfly leg of the relay, splitting 19.76, which was the fastest fly split in the field.
The 400 freestyle relay also went their way with Jerry Fox (41.95), Kaii Winkler (41.58), Quintin McCarty (41.57), and Hudson Williams (41.80) swimming 2:46.90.
Besides Carlsen, the NC State men did not have any multi-event winners. The men’s 100 back was a sweep for the Wolfpack with Hudson Williams earning the top time in 45.79 ahead of Quintin McCarty’s 46.34 for 2nd and Aiden Hayes’ 46.45 for 3rd.
McCarty led a sweep of his own in the 50 free, swimming 19.35 for the top time by three hundredths over Jerry Fox’s 19.38 and Drew Salls’ 19.39 for 2nd and 3rd from NC State.
Kaii Winkler won the 100 free in 42.21, just eight hundredths ahead of teammate Fox’s 42.29, and Hudson Williams finished 3rd in 42.86 for the Wolfpack.
In another top-three sweep, Ian Stutts earned the top time in the 200 breaststroke in 1:57.18, coming in ahead of Arsenio Bustos (1:57.58) and Hudson Schuricht (1:58.92) for 2nd and 3rd.
The 100 breast went to Arsen Kozhakhmetov in 53.28, coming in half-a-second ahead of UVA’s Matt Heilman, who swam 53.74 for 2nd.
The other five individual events went to University of Virginia Swimmers. Maximus Williamson picked up their first win of the meet in the men’s 200 freestyle, swimming 1:32.18, a new season best time to come in three tenths ahead of NC State’s Kaii Winkler.
Williamson also won the 200 IM, swimming 1:42.75 for the top time over NC State’s Daniel Diehl, who was 1:43.41.
Thomas Heilman also picked up two event wins, swimming 1:41.00 in the 200 fly to win by almost three seconds over NC State’s Anton Kochu, and 45.22 in the 100 fly for the win over Aiden Hayes from NC State.
Thomas Heilman wins the 100 Fly (45.22) #GoHoos pic.twitter.com/5zPajEyIoJ
— Virginia Swimming and Dive (@UVASwimDive) January 23, 2026 (https://twitter.com/UVASwimDive/status/2014807160622891240?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
Finally, the men’s 200 backstroke went to David King in 1:40.09, almost two seconds ahead of NC State’s Gavin Keogh in 2nd.
David King wins the 200 Back with a time of 1:40.09 #GoHoos pic.twitter.com/E61Sppzh0d
— Virginia Swimming and Dive (@UVASwimDive) January 23, 2026 (https://twitter.com/UVASwimDive/status/2014798722895339780?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
Neither men’s team has a diving program so there were no men’s diving events.
