Coleman Stewart: Two NCAA gold medals. Thirteen conference titles. Twenty-two All-American honors. Two ACC Men’s Swimmer of the Year accolades, too many ACC records to count. The list could go on and on for Stewart, who, although unable to fulfill his final NCAA sendoff as a member of the N.C. State Wolfpack, will surely continue to make a statement in the next chapter of his swimming career.
Growing up surrounded by siblings in York, Pennsylvania, Coleman Stewart never shied away from competition.
The Stewart children were not ones to say no to a race in their grandparents’ pool, and their ultra-competitive drive was fueled even more as their father, Andy, began coaching them. When his brother, Noah, and sister, Sada, began swimming competitively, young Coleman also wanted in on the action.
Coleman Stewart at the 2014 YMCA Nationals. Photo Courtesy: Mike Comer / ProSwimVisuals.com
A week before his first competitive swim practice, he still needed to wear floaties in the pool. Unsure if he would be able to do it, his parents knew there was only one way to find out as they threw the six-year-old Coleman in the water for the first day of practice.
Little did anyone know the career this kid from York would go on to have.
Sure enough, Stewart soon outgrew his floaties. He began his competitive career with the York YMCA where he became a multi-time YMCA National Championship finalist before joining the legendary North Baltimore Aquatic Club under coach Erik Posegay.
While competing for NBAC, Stewart was twice tabbed as the Maryland Swimmer of the Year in 2014 and 2015. He qualified for the 100m and 200m backstroke at the 2016 Olympic Trials, gaining the attention of college coaches.
Just as his two older siblings and his father had, Stewart knew he wanted to compete at the college level as the blue-collar recruit full of untapped potential sought a place to call home for the next four years.
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Stewart was drawn to N.C. State from the start, forming a bond with the coaching staff long before stepping foot on campus. When former associate head coach Gary Taylor picked him up from the airport for his official visit, the Wolfpack’s 2015 ACC trophy just so happened to be in the backseat of his car.
Coleman Stewart signs his NLI to NC State in 2015. Photo Courtesy: Coleman Stewart (@cstew180)
Foreshadowing Stewart’s career? Maybe. Convincing enough for him?
Absolutely.
“I don’t know what it was that clicked, but I really, really enjoyed the team. The coaching staff was informative on all the good about the school, and there weren’t any drawbacks,” said Stewart, reminiscing on his recruiting trip to Raleigh. “They make you feel like you’re a part of the family.”
Despite his parents’ warnings not to verbally commit while on the trip, Stewart’s mind was made up as soon as he arrived back home in York. The decision was clear: he would call N.C. State his home away from home, forever bonded with the brotherhood of the Wolfpack family.
Fast-forward a few years, and Stewart too would have enough ACC and NCAA trophies and medals to fill his own backseat. Just as he committed to the Wolfpack, the Wolfpack committed right back, quickly developing him into one of the fastest swimmers in the nation.
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Coleman Stewart exploded during his freshman year in Raleigh under the guidance of Braden Holloway, an experienced coach who turned a young kid from York into a dominant threat. The 2017 ACC Freshman of the Year registered a third-place finish in the 100 backstroke at his first conference championships, helping the Wolfpack bring home yet another ACC trophy he once so happened to see in the backseat of a car.
Always the fierce competitor, Stewart came back with vengeance during his sophomore year.
He swept both backstroke events at ACCs before going on to claim his first individual NCAA title in the shorter of the two backstroke distances. But of all the remarkable moments that occurred in 2018, there is one in particular Stewart will cherish forever, a snapshot in time that still gives him goosebumps when thought about.
It was the final night of the 2018 ACC Championships, and N.C. State was the clear front-runner to its fourth-straight conference crown. Always keen to make a statement, the Wolfpack turned heads by annihilating the American record in the 4×100 freestyle relay en route to crushing the field by five seconds.
NC State lowered their American record in the 4×100 freestyle relay at NCAAs in 2018. Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
“I was on that relay as a skinny sophomore with Ryan Held, the Olympic champion, Justin Ress, an amazing swimmer in the NCAA, and Jacob Molacek, a National Age Group record-holder,” said Stewart. “And I was just this no-name kid from York thrown on this relay.”
But that no-name kid from York had quickly turned himself into one of the country’s best rising superstars. A month later at NCAAs, he again anchored N.C. State’s 4×100 freestyle relay which lowered its own American record at 2:44.31 – a mark that still stands today.
Stewart repeated as ACC champion in the 100 and 200 backstroke as a junior, defending those titles yet again during his senior year while etching his name into the record book. He was named the ACC Championship Co-Meet MVP in 2019 while keeping the distinction all to himself in 2020 and was twice honored as the ACC Swimmer of the Year.
The 22-time All-American was the national runner-up in both the 100 backstroke and 100 butterfly in 2019 by a combined three-tenths of a second, which only added more fuel to the fire of unfinished business as he prepared to dive in with the diamond on his chest for the final time in 2020.
But then came the coronavirus pandemic, erasing any chance Stewart had in reclaiming his national title and leaving a void filled with what-ifs.
“I was devastated. I had worked the whole year to come back from my junior year and get my title back and not get second again,” said Stewart, who was seeded first in the 100 backstroke before the cancellation of the NCAA Championships. “That was the goal the whole year. To have that stripped away was devastating. The only word to describe it was devastating.”
While the last page in his college chapter will forever remain unwritten, his story is far from over.
In fact, it’s only just beginning.
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Consistently one of the top programs in the nation, N.C. State is no stranger to success collegiately and internationally. The program has won a total of 30 ACC championship titles – including the last six – and has produced 16 NCAA champions. On the world’s biggest stage, seven members of the Wolfpack have brought home a combined 11 Olympic medals, including big names like Held and Cullen Jones.
Coleman Stewart races the 100m butterfly at the 2019 World University Games. Photo Courtesy: Coleman Stewart (@cstew180)
“It’s hard to put yourself up to them when they’ve done so much for the program and their respective countries. I feel like there’s still a lot of work to do to have a legacy, and I’m just lucky to be on the same team that those guys were on,” said Stewart, who dreamed of having his own name on the USA cap just like his teammates before him had.
And he turned that dream into a reality, qualifying for the 2019 World University Games after finishing ninth in the 100m fly at Summer Nationals the year prior. With the mindset of competing to gain experience, Stewart left Italy with much more: bronze in the 100m butterfly, his first international medal.
“It was awesome being able to represent your country for the first time,” said Stewart, who also finaled in the 50m butterfly in Naples. “To get third was really cool, and watching them put the American flag up on the flagpole was surreal.”
But the dream doesn’t end there.
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As one chapter closes, another one begins, and Stewart has now begun to pen his story as he turns his attention toward a professional career. In a nation full of elite backstrokers, he aims to continue making a name for himself.
Despite the International Olympic Committee’s decision to postpone the Tokyo Olympics to 2021, Stewart’s goals have only shifted a year, not changed. After taking much-needed time off in March and spending a few weeks at home in York with family, Stewart was back in Raleigh making good use of makeshift home gyms and limited access to pool time.
“When I was training for ACCs and NCAAs, that was such a different type of training than what we’re doing now,” he said, adding how the majority of his practices have been in a 20-yard pool. “We’re just trying to get in what we can, and I’m trying to move forward without taking too many steps back.”
Even with a training environment far from the ideal, Stewart’s commitment has paid off thus far. At a time trial after a Saturday practice, he posted times of 44.6 in the 100 backstroke and 45.9 in the 100 butterfly, not too far off the 44.04 and 44.92, respectively, he swam at ACCs before the pandemic put an abrupt stop to his senior year.
Coleman Stewart celebrates at the 2019 ACC Championships. Photo Courtesy: NC State Athletics
“I’m very happy with where I am and wasn’t really expecting a 44 in the 100 back,” he said, although he knows his performance last summer in Italy proved he isn’t pigeonholed as a yards-only swimmer. “My short course has gotten a lot better and my long course still has a long way to come, but that’s still what we’re trying to go for and those goals haven’t changed.”
With those ambitions of one day wearing the red, white, and blue again still very much alive, Stewart will continue to train under the red, white, and black of the Wolfpack in preparation for next summer while pursuing the International Swimming League.
“I wouldn’t be even close to where I was at any other school, and I’m really lucky I found N.C. State and this coaching staff,” said Stewart, whose love for the school and program has only intensified over the last four years. “Everyone has that one goal of winning and being the best and we’re going to do everything we can in and out of the pool. I personally don’t think you can find anything like that at any other school.”
Stewart is confident that his experience last summer at the World University Games will alleviate some of the pressure under the bright lights in Omaha next year. Motivated as ever by his goals as he turns his attention to long course to put himself in the best position as possible at Trials, he is taking things one day at time.
“I’m just trying to think about if I am doing all that I can do in this practice to put myself in the best situation for not only next year, but in 2024 after that,” he said. “Next year, I’d like to be on the National Team. That’s something I haven’t done yet, so I definitely want to check that off. By the time 2024 rolls around, I want to be in a position to be on the team.”
First a storied college career, and now striving for an Olympic berth?
Not too bad for a kid from York.
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?Go Pack!!!