By Reid Carlson on SwimSwam
2016 Olympic gold medalist and U.S. National Champion Ryan Held announced his engagement to Lexie Lupton, a fellow NC State swimming alumnus, on Sunday via Instagram.
Held and Lupton swam together on NC State’s varsity swim team during the 2017-2018 season after Lupton transferred to NC State from Texas A&M. Lupton became a two-time All-American at NC State as a member of the 200 and 400 freestyle relays in 2018. Lupton’s NCAA career came to an end in 2019. Currently, Lupton works for the Arizona Diamondbacks MLB team, per her LinkedIn profile.
Held is a 2016 Olympic gold medalist from the 4 x 100 freestyle relay which he swam on with Caeleb Dressel, Michael Phelps, and Nathan Adrian. Held placed 3rd at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials in the 100 freestyle, just getting out-touched by Dressel to become the second individual performer in the men’s 100 freestyle in Rio. Held placed 6th in the 100 free at U.S. Olympic Trials in 2021 and just missed making the U.S. Olympic team for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Held remains one of NC State’s greatest swimmers having earned a total of 25 All-American honors and won 4 NCAA championships on relays during his time at NC State. Held is also a 23-time ACC Champion in both relay and individual events. Held was named the ACC Most Valuable Swimmer for men in both 2017 and 2018.
Held is the 5th-fastest performer all-time in the 50 yard freestyle (18.56), the 8th-fastest all-time in the 100-yard freestyle (41.05), the 14th-fastest all-time in the 200 yard freestyle (1:31.37), and the 21st-fastest all-time in the 100 yard butterfly (44.79). Held was also the 2019 US National Champion in the 100 LCM freestyle with a 47.39, formerly the U.S. Open Record until the 2021 U.S. Olympic Team Trials in Omaha.
Held currently competes for the LA Current in the International Swimming League and will return to Eindhoven in November for the semifinals of the ISL’s third season.
Read the full story on SwimSwam: Olympic Gold Medalist Ryan Held Gets Engaged to NC State Swim Alum Lexie Lupton
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