Florida State University Athletics
Vargas, Helling Shine in ACC Final
2/15/2022 10:04:07 PM | Men's Swimming and Diving
ATLANTA, Ga. – The No. 21/24 Florida State swimming and diving teams opened competition at the 2022 ACC Swimming and Diving Championships on Tuesday at the McAuley Aquatics Center.
Men’s divers David Vargas and Jesco Helling highlighted the evening by competing in their first ACC Championship final, while the men’s 800 free relay achieved an NCAA standard.
“It was a great first day for us,” FSU head coach Neal Studd said. “The men getting the NCAA cut in the relay was big and our ladies had a very strong swim. Two divers in the top eight was also great. We’re excited for the rest of the week.”
Sydney Boals
Behind a sophomore and three freshmen, the Seminoles started off the night by placing seventh in the women’s 800 free relay behind Phoebe Griffiths, Emily Trieschmann, Sydney Boals and Edith Jernstedt with a time of 7:10.13.
Griffiths led off with a split of 1:47.42, just off the lead. Trieschmann pulled the Noles in front (1:48.69), but Boals extended the lead behind a massive split of 1:45.97, which was five seconds faster than her individual 200 free this season.
“That was a massive split for Syd,” Studd added. “She was looking good in practice, and we just had to put her on the relay and she absolutely crushed it.”
Jernstedt brought home the heat one win, splitting 1:48.05.
Aziz Ghaffari
Aziz Ghaffari led off the men’s 800 free relay, splitting his personal best in the 200 free at 1:34.52. That performance is now tied for the third-fastest in school history.
David Quirie kept the Noles in a steady third place in heat two, splitting 1:34.26 and Sam Budd clocked 1:36.07 in the third leg to keep FSU in a tight race for second in the heat.
Yordan Yanchev posted a 1:34.10 anchor split, pulling the Noles to a second place finish in heat two, and sixth place showing overall behind a final time of 6:18.95, which is an NCAA consideration time.
David Vargas
Helling and Vargas qualified for their first ACC championship finals in sixth and seventh place respectively out of prelims.
Vargas held a steady fourth place position throughout the round, starting with his best dive of the day, scoring 68.20 on his front 3 ½ somersault pike. He followed with two more dives about 60 points before adding tallies of 58.50 and 51.00 in his fourth and fifth round dives, holding on to fourth place.
In his final dive, Vargas added 64.50 on his front 2 ½ somersault twister, but ended up in fifth place after another trailing competitor scored above 80 points on his final dive.
Jesco Helling
Helling held sixth place throughout the round six, scoring his best dive in the fifth round. His front 3 ½ somersault pike registered marks of 7.0 and 7.5, for a total of 68.20
“David and Jesco had a very solid day,” FSU head diving coach John Proctor said. “David has come in and done a great job adjusting and getting ready for the postseason and Jesco has really come into his own. He came in as a freshman last year and had to manage an injury and he just continues to improve. I’m looking forward to seeing what these guys and our ladies can do the rest of the week.”
In the women’s 1-meter diving prelims, freshman Izzy Gregersen led the Noles on the boards, scoring 218.55 for 30th place.
Thursday’s prelims will start at 10 a.m. with heats of the 500 free, 200 IM, 50 free. The top 24 will advance to finals. Prelims of men’s 1-meter will start at 1 p.m., with the top eight divers advancing to finals.
Finals will start at 6 p.m.
After two events, the No. 21 men’s team is in third place with 97 points, while the No. 24 women are in 10th with 46 points.
All sessions will be available to watch through the ACC Network Extra. The ACC network will re-air certain sessions throughout the week:
Wed., Feb. 16: 5-8 p.m. ET (Day 1 Finals)
Thu., Feb. 17: Noon-3:30 p.m. ET (Day 2 Finals)
Fri., Feb. 18: 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m. ET (Day 3 Finals)
Sat., Feb. 19: 8-11 a.m. ET (Day 4 Finals)
Sun., Feb. 20: 8:30 a.m.-Noon ET (Day 5 Finals)
Wednesday’s Schedule
500 free, 200 IM, 50 free, Men’s 1-meter
Prelims, 10 a.m. – https://noles.co/3oPF4hg
Finals, 6 p.m. – https://noles.co/3uSjEE3