MAY/JUNE 2022 ■ 23
WATER MARK
Wolfpack Swimmers
Kacper Stokowski
And Katharine Berkoff
Bring Home NCAA
Backstroke Crowns
COVER STORY
BY MATT CARTER
or a split second, NC State junior swim-
mer Kacper Stokowski did not know if
he had won the NCAA title in the 100-
yard backstroke. He was not sure if the
winning time belonged to him or the
swimmer one lane over. Then he no-
ticed it belonged to the one with the
long name: Stokowski.
Swiftly climbing out of the pool, Stokowski
raised both arms in the air, pounded his chest a
few times and then flexed his muscles.
In Raleigh, a group of swimmers, including NC
State junior Katharine Berkoff, were watching the
race unfold together. Berkoff had only one thought.
"His celebration was awesome," she said. "We
loved it. That was totally him. I wasn't expecting
him to get on the blocks like that, but I loved it. It
was so funny."
Stokowski insisted his celebration, which went
viral in the swimming world, was "all natural and
very spontaneous." The show of emotion was
proof of how important the race was to him, and
some of that can be attributed to Berkoff.
One week earlier, Berkoff had claimed her sec-
ond consecutive national title in the same race.
Berkoff and Stokowski are training partners.
"After last year, I was kind of jealous of her,"
Stokowski said. "I wanted to join her. I wanted to
be as good as she is."
Together, Berkoff and Stokowski made NC State
"Backstroke U" in 2022. ■
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