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Swim & Dive has mixed weekend results

Virginia's No. 9 men beaten by ranked foes; No. 11 women handle PSU, fall to No. 1 Texas

Property of the Cavalier Daily
Property of the Cavalier Daily

The Virginia swimming and diving teams battled against three of the top teams in the country Friday and Saturday at the Aquatic & Fitness Center. The No. 9 Cavalier men beat West Virginia 241-111 but lost to No. 1 Texas, 225-128, and No. 24 Penn State, 191-162. Meanwhile, the No. 11 women team defeated West Virginia, 288-50, and No. 24 Penn State, 226-127, but lost to No. 9 Texas, 196-57.

The Cavalier women won seven of the 17 events, while the men won just one. Though coach Augie Busch was pleased with the results, he thought his team’s performance left something to be desired.

“I thought we were all over the place with results,” Busch said. “I think [it was] more good than bad. The only real frustrating thing is we lost so many close races I can’t even count. I don’t think we have ever seen a team lose that many close races.”

Despite the struggles, the team still put forward several strong performances. On the men’s side, junior diver J.B. Kolod broke his own school record on the 3-meter diving board with 425.78 points, and sophomore Yannick Kaeser won the 100 breaststroke. Senior Parker Camp added third-place finishes in the 100 and 200 butterfly, while sophomore Luke Papendick placed third in the 200 backstroke.

On the women’s side, sophomore Courtney Bartholomew — the 2013 ACC freshman of the year — won the 200 backstroke Friday night and the 100 backstroke Saturday morning. Additionally, she swam the first leg of the winning 400-medley relay team that included freshman Laura Simon, junior Ellen Williamson and freshman Leah Smith.

“I was happy with my 200 backstroke last night,” Bartholomew said. “That was a pretty good in-season time, and to be ranked fourth or fifth nationally is huge. My 100 back today was not where I wanted it to be, but I had a great showing two weeks ago at Navy, so I’ll take it, and we still have two weeks [until] taper. You can’t ask for much more than that.”

The women’s freshman swimmers provided a spark for the team, with Smith winning both the 500 and 1,000 freestyle and Simon winning the 200 breaststroke. In addition, freshman Kaitlyn Jones provided several strong performances, including a third-place finish in the 200 IM. Busch had nothing but praise for the efforts of his freshman class.

“Our first-year women’s class is a great class,” Busch said. “It was one of the top recruiting classes, so they’re certainly not doing anything that is surprising to us. We like their effort. We like their heart. We like their versatility.”

The meet continued after a bizarre twist Friday night. After the men’s 200 IM — just the fourth event of the night — the fire alarms sounded in the AFC, forcing both swimmers and fans into the frigid 40 degree night air. Although the 30-minute delay was certainly not ideal for anyone involved, Cavalier swimmers took the interruption in stride.

“It went off, and no one really did anything,” Bartholomew said. “Then they started yelling at us to get out of the pool, and I was soaked … It was a little bit chilly out there. We were all huddled like penguins. I think, though, as a team, we just kind of took it as a joke, and I still think we came back last night and had a great showing afterwards, even though we were outside in the cold for a good 20 minutes.”

Overall, Busch savored the opportunity to compete against elite teams as he seeks to build a national powerhouse program on par with top teams such as Texas.

“Racing against good competition teaches you about what the next level is,” Busch said. “Texas represents the level that we want to get to. It’s fun. You get better by racing and competing against people better [than you].”

Going forward, Busch hopes to see continued mental and physical improvements from both teams in order to close out the kind of tight races that slipped away this weekend.

“I think so many of those are just a decision that you make that you’re not going to lose that last 25 [yards],” Busch said. “Obviously [we’re] in a spot where we need a lot of rest. We got two weeks to do that, which I think is enough time. We just have to be tougher when it comes to finishing races, and I think we will be in a couple weeks.”

The Cavaliers will next compete at the Ohio State Invite Nov. 22-24, where they will face Florida, Kentucky, Purdue and Ohio State.

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