The Virginia men's swimming and diving team did it again for the third time. The Cavaliers won their third consecutive ACC Championship title this weekend at the Aquatics & Fitness Center.
Their final score of 883.5 points is the highest score total in ACC history, breaking the previous record set by North Carolina in 1991 with 852 points.
"This weekend was a total team effort," Virginia coach Mark Bernardino said. "We've been extremely focused, determined and energized all year for this. The win goes far beyond the 18 scoring athletes. It went to every single guy working out there every single day."
The Cavaliers dominated the meet and won 13 of 20 events. On the final day of competition, they won each swimming event. Carolina finished second with 594.5 points, and Georgia Tech finished third with 434.5 points.
Highlights from Friday's competition include a default Virginia win in the 200-yard medley relay. Both Carolina and Florida State were disqualified, and the Cavaliers emerged victorious. With freshman Luke Anderson leading the way, Virginia also took home a 1-2-3 sweep in the 200 freestyle.
"This weekend was intense," Anderson said. "It was my first ACC Championship and there was a lot of pressure to perform."
Anderson did not disappoint. His 200 free time of 1 minute, 36.54 seconds set a new pool record. Freshman Ian Prichard finished .07 behind Anderson for a close second, and senior Troy Johnson finished third.
Virginia freshman Gary Marshall kept up the winning streak by snagging the 100 breaststroke title. Georgia Tech's Tomonori Tsuji finished a mere .03 behind with a time of 55.01.
The night ended on a high note with a smashing win for the Cavaliers in the 800 free relay. The team of freshmen Luke Wagner, Anderson, Prichard and senior Troy Johnson took home the win with a new pool and ACC meet record of 6:29.13.
Saturday night's competition started with a bang as the entire crowd watched Prichard shatter not only the meet record, but the ACC and pool records in the 1650 free. He went out so fast he broke the 1000 yard freestyle ACC record with a split of 9:01.03. His time of 14:51.70 is more than 15 seconds faster than the NCAA automatic qualifying time. He was followed by teammates Jamie Grimes, Dan DeMarco and Michael Fuller, who placed third, fourth and sixth, respectively.
Grimes and DeMarco also made the NCAA automatic qualifying time. Prichard's record-breaking swims and two conference wins in the 500 free and 1650 free earned him the meet's most valuable swimmer award.
"It's not that we're any more or less talented than the other teams out there," Bernardino said. "We have an incredible team chemistry and no team can top the love and bond they share with one another and the sport."
Virginia went on to win each swimming event of the night. Wagner won his second title of the meet in the 200 backstroke and set the pool record in the preliminaries. He finished with an NCAA automatic qualifying time.
Anderson finished first in the 100 free. His time of 43.65 set a new pool record. He was followed by teammates Johnson, Adam Kerpelman and Jonathan Haag, who finished third, fourth and seventh respectively.
Marshall took his second breaststroke title of the meet in the 200 breast. His time of 1:56.42 is an NCAA automatic qualifying time and an ACC meet record. Sophomore Jonathan Baird finished eighth and senior Justin Capuco finished 10th.
The Cavaliers also dominated the 200 butterfly. Junior Dan Zurowski won the event, and teammates Michael Fuller and Guy Yimsomruay finished third and fourth, respectively.
The three-meter diving event saw two Cavaliers finish in the top eight. Junior Joe Pierkowski and freshman Pete Amstutz finished third and fifth, respectively.
By the last event of the meet Virginia was more than secure in their first place position. Not even finishing last in the final relay could deny them the championship trophy. The team of Anderson, Haag, Kerpelman and Johnson won the 400 free relay with a time of 2:55.60, which broke the pool record.
The season does not end here, however. Those who qualified for the NCAA Championship will continue to train throughout March.
"We're in an excellent position for NCAAs," Anderson said. "With this weekend's performances I'm confident we'll be more successful than we've ever been"
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