The entire fate of Virginia women's swimming does not rest on the times of three swimmers.
Today, however, juniors Rachael Burke and Brielle White and sophomore Jenny Steiner are swimming to prove that the Virginia women can compete with the nation's best at the 2005 NCAA Women's Swimming and Diving Championships, hosted by Purdue University.
Within the last year, two Virginia women's swimming streaks were broken. At last year's NCAAs at Texas A&M, Virginia finished in 19th place, snapping a school-record five consecutive years of top-13 finishes. This year's second-place finish at the ACCs in Atlanta ended Virginia's two-straight ACC title run.
This accumulation of motivation is pushing the swimmers to be at their peak in this year's tournament in West Lafayette, Ind.
"It is hard to go to a big meet like NCAAs and not get excited," senior captain Kate Wrenshall said. "Plus the team didn't exactly swim very well at ACCs, so I think these girls are looking to avenge the mistakes of the conference meet and prove that Virginia swimming and diving is a force to be reckoned with."
Learning from previous mistakes has also pushed White, Burke and Steiner to train harder to achieve greater success.
"The girls have kept up their normal practice schedule since ACCs," Wrenshall said. "They stayed in Charlottesville over Spring Break and went to two practices a day. Their hard work should definitely pay off."
With previous experience and training, juniors White and Burke have proven that they can compete against upper-level competition.
"Brielle and Rachael have proven time and time again that they swim their best under pressure and can race against the best in the country," Wrenshall said.
Burke, who will be swimming the 500 and the 1650-yard freestyle, is competing in her third NCAA championship. The four-time All-American finished seventh in the 500 and 1650-yard freestyles in 2003. Last year, she finished second in the 1500 meter free with a personal-best time of 15:55.27.
"The field in the distance events, Rachael's events, is extremely deep this year, so it would be quite an accomplishment if she won NCAAs," Wrenshall said.
White will compete in the 100 and 200-meter backstroke. With her ACC title time of 53.44 seconds in the 100 freestyle, White is the third seed in the event today. Last year, White placed third in the 100 backstroke, capturing her first All-American honor. Her success in the 100 and 200 backstrokes even carried over in the ACC Championships of 2004 and 2005, where she won both events twice.
The graduation of previous competitors in backstroke events has made this year a great opportunity for White to win her NCAA events.
"Brielle got fourth at the Olympic trials this summer, and I am pretty sure that only one of the girls who beat her at trials is still a college athlete, so she has a great chance," Wrenshall said.
Steiner will swim the 100 and 200-meter breaststroke at the NCAA championships for the second consecutive year. With her hard work and dedication all year, she will have a better chance of being more successful this year, Wrenshall said.
"Jenny has worked unbelievably hard this year and her work ethic should give her the confidence to compete against anyone she swims against," Wrenshall said.
After Steiner's successful first season last year, she has worked hard this season to prove that she can maintain her level of competition.
"She has put to rest the notion, at least for Jenny Steiner, that there is such thing as a sophomore slump," coach Mark Bernardino said. "She has made some magnificent improvements. She is much stronger and much quicker than a year ago."
Hopefully for Virginia fans, this year's NCAA championships will prove to be a return to the national top-13 ranking.
Read More
Abysmal start proves too much to overcome as Virginia exits ACC Tournament early
By Ryan Weiner | 19 hours agoIf the Cavaliers make the NCAA Tournament, they cannot afford to play another game like this.
As the Walshes take their final bow, the swimming world pauses
By Xander Tilock | YesterdayHow could anyone possibly describe the success of this duo?
Virginia women’s track & field wins ACC Championships
By Caroline Wulff | 2 days agoThe last time the Virginia women’s track and field team won ACC Outdoor Championships was 1987 — at least until this past weekend.
