The nationally ranked Virginia men's and women's swimming and diving teams face ACC rivals North Carolina and Clemson at the Aquatic & Fitness Center this weekend. The two separate dual meets will be pivotal in each team's attempt to climb into first place in the conference.
The No. 9 men (4-1, 2-0 ACC) will try to rebound from a close loss to Tennessee on Jan. 14 while the No. 12 undefeated women (4-0, 2-0) will look to keep intact their unblemished record.
"We're going to be focusing on racing hard and executing perfection," junior Luke Wagner said. "Meets against UNC are always extremely intense because there is a long history with them, so we are looking forward to that meet on Saturday."
The No. 17 North Carolina men (5-3, 2-1) would jump into second place in the ACC with a victory over the Cavaliers. The Tar Heel men will invade the AFC tomorrow at 1 p.m.
In its last meet against No. 11 Tennessee (5-0, 3-0 SEC) the Cavaliers were deadlocked with the Volunteers at 113 points apiece when Tennessee emerged victorious from the 400-meter freestyle relay event, and took the win, 126-117.
Despite the loss, Virginia has reasons to be confident against in-conference rival North Carolina. A Cavalier holds the best ACC time in 11 of the 15 individual events, including the 500-,
1000- and 1650-meter freestyles, all held by freshman Fran Crippen.
The No. 12 Virginia women will be underdogs going into tomorrow's 4 p.m. meet against the No. 11 Tar Heels (8-1, 4-0), who currently hold the top spot in the ACC.
"The UNC meet is very important for us, as they are our biggest rivals," senior Mirjana Bosevska said. "Three of our four dual meets left are against ACC teams, so we will be able to see where we stand in terms of the competition and what we need to work on and improve on when it's time for ACCs. I think the team is really excited about these dual meets."
Bosevska was recently named the 2002 Macedonian women's athlete of the year for her accomplishments. This season, Bosevska holds the top ACC time in the 1650-meter freestyle and the 200- and 400-meter individual medleys.
Other top performers from the women's squad include Katie Gordon and Rachel Burke. Gordon has recorded the fastest ACC time in the 500-meter freestyle and the second fastest time in the 400-meter individual relay, while Burke has clocked the leading conference time in the 1000-meter freestyle.
On Sunday, both Virginia teams will face unranked Clemson squads at noon. The Tiger men (6-3, 2-1) are only a half-game behind the Cavaliers in the ACC standings while the women (7-5, 1-2) have not been as successful.
Two Virginia wins this weekend would put both teams in at least a share of first-place in the ACC, a familiar slot for the Cavaliers.
The men have won four consecutive ACC championships and the women tied for first place in the conference standings last year before finishing behind the Tar Heels at the ACC championship meet.
Despite this weekend's stiff competition, confidence is one thing the Cavaliers don't have to worry about as they head into the stretch run.
"Our focus now will be on bringing the heat to Carolina, Clemson, Pittsburgh and Maryland," junior standout Luke Anderson said. "From there the fire will rain on the entire ACC and NCAA as we move into the championship part of the season."
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