The competition might have been lacking, but that didn't stop the undefeated Virginia men's and women's swimming teams and their fans from exhibiting impressive spirit throughout their first ACC dual meet against Duke this weekend.
Cheers coming from the pool at the Aquatic & Fitness Center reverberated out into the street.
Before the events began, the Cavaliers streamed out of the locker room chanting in unison and throughout the meet, stood poolside and rooted on their teammates, adding festivity to the slaughter.
Throughout the meet, as expected, the No. 13 Cavalier men (2-0, 1-0 ACC) and No. 10 women (2-0, 1-0) dominated the Blue Devils. With the losses, the Duke men fall to 0-3 with two conference losses while the Duke women drop below the .500 mark to 2-3 overall and 0-2 in the ACC.
The Cavalier men's victory of 126-101 and the women's margin of 128-104 fails to reflect the striking disparity of the two squads' performances, as Virginia Coach Mark Bernardino exhibitioned both his men's and women's teams in five events as a conciliatory gesture to Duke. Until Bernardino began exhibitioning his swimmers, individual Duke athletes failed to finish any event in first or second place. And in the events in which their times no longer mattered, Cavaliers continued to secure the top finishes.
The Virginia men established control in the initial swimming event of the meet, the 200-meter medley relay. A team comprised of juniors Jon Haag and Luke Anderson and sophomores Chris Cooper and Brian Harrington notched the top spot in a field that finished with the Cavaliers sweeping the top three.
"For me, a meet like this gives us the opportunity to race each other and race the clock," sophomore Bo Greenwood said.
Among the leaders of the men's assault, Greenwood posted the top time in the 200 free -- an event in which the top four finishes went to Cavaliers -- and also led the field in the 500 free, though his time did not count. In other freestyle events, senior Dan DeMarco won the 1,000 and junior Adam Kerpelman won the 50. Meanwhile, in the 400 individual medley, freshman Francis Crippen, the ACC Men's Swimmer of the Week, led a Virginia top-three sweep. In the only other non-exhibitioned contest, senior Guy Yimsomruay topped his 100 fly competition.
In their 128-104 tromping, the Cavalier women, picked to finish atop the ACC pecking order, also boasted a strong overall team effort.
"A meet like this is a stepping-stone for us," senior Cara Lane said. "It gets us ready for the harder meets. It's definitely a more relaxed atmosphere."
Lane swam the winning time in the 200 free, while junior Calie Dykehouse won the 50 and sophomore Katie McWilliams led the 1,000 free field. In the other events that counted, senior Mirjana Bosevska topped the 400 IM field and sophomore Andrea Georoff emerged victorious in the 100 butterfly. In the opening 200 medley relay, the Cavaliers -- composed of freshmen Brielle White and Elaine Bennett, junior Cynthia Roller and senior Courtney Massaro -- posted the winning time.
Additionally, Virginia divers for both squads contributed to Virginia's victories. Junior Pete Amstutz won both the one- and three-meter diving events while senior Alison Sharp did the same in the women's competition. Amstutz qualified for regional competition with his victories.
With both Virginia teams striving for top finishes at the ACC Championships, the meet against the Blue Devils, while hardly strenuous, provided the Cavaliers with opportunities to play around with lineups and substitute various athletes into different events.
Crippen, for example, did not compete in the 1,000 free, the event in which he set the AFC pool record only a week ago. Additionally, Bernardino tested his squads with a demanding week of practices before Saturday's competition.
"We were a tired team today," DeMarco noted.
On Friday, the Cavaliers travel to Penn State, whose men's and women's teams are ranked 14th and 16th, respectively.
"We're definitely going to be more fired up," Greenwood said. "They're going to provide better racing for us, so we're going to have to get up for that."
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