In a sweeping success, the Virginia men's and women's swimming and diving teams combined to win 32 of 42 total events to claim first place Saturday in the Cavalier Invitational.
The Invitational ran Thursday through Saturday and featured, in addition to the host Cavaliers, teams from Central Connecticut State, West Chester, West Virginia, William & Mary and Yale.
The No. 12 Cav men's team, winning 15 of its 21 events, completed the meet with 1,434 points, nearly doubling Yale's second place finish. Luke Anderson, who won the 50- and 100-yard freestyle races and swam on the winning 400 and 800 free relays, led the Cavs (5-1) and was rewarded with ACC Swimmer of the Week accolades for his efforts.
The Virginia men also dominated the 1,650 free, grabbing the top five spots in the race. Sophomore Dan DeMarco led the event, followed closely by senior Jamie Grimes, freshman Ian Prichard, senior Michael Fuller and sophomore Mike Wheeler.
Virginia also dominated in the 400 individual medley, sweeping first through fourth places. Sophomore Guy Yimsomruay touched first, followed by Fuller, DeMarco and Wheeler.
The Cavaliers' ability to win not only the top spot in many of their races but also the spots underneath as well, was an integral part of their success in winning the Invitational.
"All the schools had a lot of good swims," Virginia coach Mark Bernardino said. "But in terms of depth top to bottom they couldn't really match us."
The No. 13 Virginia women's team also posted a remarkable win, totaling 1,046 points and winning 17 of 21 events. The Cavs (5-0) were led by sophomore standout and ACC Swimmer of the Week Cara Lane. Lane won the 1,650 free with an NCAA automatic qualifying time of 16:15.92, took first in the 200 butterfly and 500 free, finished second in the 400 IM and swam on the winning 400 and 800 free relays.
Senior Megan Iffland also had a successful weekend, winning the 100 and 200 backstrokes and leading the women's 200 and 400 free relays and the 200 and 400 medley relays to first place finishes.
Freshmen Amy Baly and Carlie Dykehouse put in their own efforts as well, finishing second to Lane in the 1,650 free and 200 fly respectively. Baly also beat Lane in the 400 IM and won the 200 breast.
For the Virginia freshmen this meet was their first big test for the upcoming ACC and NCAA meets.
The Invitational "was a warm-up for me for ACCs and NCAAs because it was the same format as those meets," Dykehouse said. "This was a learning experience because it was my first big college meet."
Bernardino has confidence that the freshmen are already well on their way to being ready for meets like the ACCs and NCAAs.
"Amy Baly and Carlie Dykehouse are great additions to our team," Bernardino said. "Both have taken great advantage of their chance to train with great athletes like Cara Lane and Mirjana Bosevska - it shows in their great improvement. That 1,650 [between Lane and Baly] was a stirring race. That's pretty incredible to have two swimmers who were never separated by more than sixth-tenths of a second over such a great distance"
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