By Braden Keith on SwimSwam
Sometimes, swimming gets too rigorous. Axioms like “3 days of missed practice sets you back 3 weeks of training” leads to anxiety over straying too far outside of the lines, for fear that the lost time can never be recovered.
But sometimes, small experiments can lead to big gains.
That’s what happened this week with UNCW junior William Carrico at the Fall Frenzy Invite hosted by Queens this weekend. The defending CAA Champion in the 200 breast, 400 IM, and 500 free didn’t have any good reason to make a change – especially when his best time in the 400 IM of 3:44.81 would earn him an NCAA invite this year if he does it in the CAA Final (the cut time is 3:46.19).
And none-the-less, Carrico and his coach Bobby Guntoro decided to experiment this season, and it paid off.
UNCW record in 200 IM. We started ” a new project” this Fall. William Carrico‘s progression in 200 IM this season so far:
PB at the beginning of the season: 1:49 Oct 2025: 1:47 Nov 2025: 1:44
To be continued… pic.twitter.com/mzoT7Gu4IW
— Bobby Guntoro (@bobbygunt) November 22, 2025
Carrico swam a 1:44.69. His best time last season was 1:50.10 at a dual meet, and his best time the season before was a 1:49.71 at the team’s mid-season invite.
His swim whacked half-a-second off the old team record of 1:45.12 set in 2023 by Henderson Louviere.
“William’s main focus has always been the 400 IM,” his coach Guntoro said. “Over the past two years, we’ve really committed to building his engine and aerobic capacity, and that work has paid off—he’s progressed from 3:58 in high school to 3:44 as a sophomore.
“This junior year has been the perfect time to introduce more speed endurance and stroke-specific power, and that shift has already shown up in his 200 IM performances this fall. While the 400 IM remains our priority, our job is to grow with William and help him explore his full potential. The 200 IM may be an event where he can reach the NCAA level, but we’ll stay patient and see where his development leads.”
An analysis of his split progression supports that speed work. While every part of his race has improved, three of the five second drop came on the front-end of the race. That improvement is even more distinct since his personal best in October. In about six weeks, he’s dropped 2.2 seconds on the front have and about eight-tenths on the back-half.
Splits Comparison:
November 15, 2023 October 10, 2025 November 21, 2025 Pre-Season PB Previous PB New PB Fly 24.85 24.53 23.47 Back 26.92 26.60 25.39 Breast 31.13 30.03 30.15 Free 26.81 26.47 25.68 1:49.71 1:47.63 1:44.69The speed is showing up in other ways, too. Even at a meet where he didn’t seem like he was at his best (his 400 IM was 4:46.90, about two seconds off his best), he split 1:35.27 in the 800 free relay – faster than he was at last year’s conference meet.
He also split 52.74 on the breaststroke leg of the 400 medley relay on Friday and 24.05 on the breaststroke leg of the 200 medley relay on Saturday. He didn’t have the speed to occupy either of those legs for the Seahawks last season.
Not every experiment is rewarded, but we should remember the times when they are just as often as we remember the times when the status quo led to a plateau or a busted taper. Sometimes, working on something new can re-invigorate an athlete and a coach, change the goals, and create a new set of quantum leaps that are the reason we all fell in love with the sport when we were 11 or 12 years old.
Read the full story on SwimSwam: UNCW Star William Carrico Breaks School Record In His “New Project”
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