The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1466831
MAY/JUNE 2022 ■ 27 " In swimming, we say if you have a great race, you don't usually remember that race. The last 10 yards, I don't remember correctly. " Stokowski any American or NCAA swimmer had ever done. After qualifying with the third-fastest time in prelims, Stokowski found himself more relaxed in the finals. However, the 100-yard backstroke was one of the most competitive swims in the NCAA Championships, and going into the back half of the race, Stokowski was in fourth place. Yet in the final turn for the last 25 yards, he unleashed a devastating underwater transition that vaulted him to the front. "In swimming, we say if you have a great race, you don't usually remember that race," Stokowski said. "The last 10 yards, I don't remember correctly. "From the video that I've watched a lot of times, I can tell that the last 25 it was me and the guy swimming next to me. He pushed me a lot. I saw him underwater a little bit." Stokowski always rewatches his races to analyze, but understandably he's enjoyed the review of this one more than others. Achieving an NCAA championship had be- come a goal for him. W h i c h ex p l a i n s why Stokowski immediately jumped out of the pool in celebration when he real- ized he was first. "I think this race will stay with me forever," he said. "It was a part of my dreams, and I reached it." The irony is that Sto- kowski achieved that dream while wearing the myste- rious red diamond on his chest that is the trade- mark of NC State swim- mers racing at the NCAA Championships. No one knows what the diamond is supposed to symbolize. Past and present swim- mers from the Wolf- pack program have loy- ally guarded the secret. Stokowski is now proud to be a part of the school he once spurned. "I love this place," he said. "I love the culture. I love Raleigh. I love NC State." ■