On the rebound after a 122-121 defeat at South Carolina Jan. 7, the Wolfpack (5-1, 4-0) hosted Maryland Saturday morning and defeated the Terrapins 152-76 to remain undefeated in conference play.
Though consistent performances from senior All-American Cullen Jones and company have been the norm for the Pack this season, one member of the team routinely plays a vital role in his team’s success during its swim meets in Willis R. Casey Natatorium.
He’s not a swimmer, but his hands might be the most valuable in the building.
He’s Coach Brooks Teal.
During the women’s 1000 freestyle, Teal is seen attired in black pants and a red, N.C. State, collard shirt, standing cross-armed beside a water-sprinkling device that buffs the water under the diving board — making the surface softer for a diver’s impact.
Teal often pulls out a folded piece of paper from his back pocket, jotting notes with a sleek black and yellow pen. Having transferred his thoughts from brain to pen and paper, he calmly slips the folded paper back to its original place, and delivers a series of hand motions that will be relayed to his swimmers via counters — people on the far edge of the pool who wave signs with numbers underwater as the swimmer approaches.
“If someone is next to me, [the counters] will bounce [the sign] up and down really fast — that means someone’s close,” Jones said. “If they sway it side to side, a lot of times that means you are on a good pace.”
With the event winding down to the last 100 yards, Teal checks his stopwatch, then frantically delivers a more vigorous circular waving motion above his head with his right hand.
“The circular motion means to try to speed up your turnover,” Teal said. “We’ll signal them to use their legs, to kick harder — sometimes we have signals for where they are in their pace. It really depends on the race and the individual swimmer — things they need to work on to succeed in that race.”
A clapping sequence from Teal then propelled junior Lindsey Barwegan to first place in the event with a time of 10:14.95.
Teal’s poolside antics also helped freshman Lucy Lindsey place second in the 200 free with a time of 1:53.83.
“The waving thing means ‘go faster,'” Lindsey said. “Usually [the coaches] start to do that if it is a close race, or if someone is coming up behind me.”
The State women tried to go faster, but fell short 127-114 in a match decided by the final 200 free relay.
Senior diver Molly Culberson was a bright spot for the women, winning the one-meter and three-meter events, including school and pool record in the three-meter. She swam a score of 357.60.
For her success to carry over into the ACC Championships in February, Culberson said Coach Mike Finneran will keep them fresh by easing up in practice.
“He gives us more leeway,” Culberson said. “He tells us what he wants us to do, but then he gives us a little space to do what we need to do to get ready.”
Senior Cullen Jones, who swam his first 200 free and won with a time of 1:42.86, is already familiar with the physical rigors he and his team will encounter as the team prepares to gear up for the ACC and NCAA Championships in February and March.
“We’re not fresh really, I mean we’re getting beat up in practice,” Jones said. “We’re still doing a lot of hard training — we’re tired, we get hammered in practice. I think the most important thing is to stay focused.”