A painted banner on the wall of the AFC yesterday read, "We heart our fourth years," and listed the names of all the senior women swimmers and divers. Next to it were pieces of paper declaring "Go Ethan," "Go Eric" and "U.Va. loves Ryan Burg" -- posters dedicated to the senior men.
Before yesterday's swimming and diving meet began, the seniors were all asked to stand on the deck with their parents. The announcer then read their names one by one, and listed off their accomplishments -- both academic and athletic -- of the last four years. It was the last home meet of the season, and the seniors wanted to make it a good one. They did just that when they won yesterday, defeating the Pittsburgh men 130-111, and the women 133-105.
"We've had a very difficult week of training so all in all, I'm pretty pleased with the results," Virginia coach Mark Bernardino said. "Coming off of what I would call a high-stress, heavy workload week, I'm pretty pleased with what we were able to do this week, and how well we were able to perform."
The seniors swam exceptionally well. Rachel Burke won the 1,000-yard freestyle for the women, while Katie Gordon took both the 500-yard freestyle race and the 400-yard I.M. Brielle White won the 200-yard backstroke. Fran Crippen led his usual one-two finishes with John Millen in the 1,000- and 500-yard freestyle, and then took the 400-yard I.M.
"For the guys, we are losing one of the best swimmers in Virginia swimming history in Fran Crippen," junior Stefan Hirniak said. "Ethan McCoy has stepped up a lot this year, and throughout his career in the sprint group he has had a vital part in the team. Ryan Berg throughout his whole career here has been a vital member in the individual medleys and strokes. Basically the fourth years are the backbone of our team."
However, the seniors' importance to the team is not just dependent on their speed. On the women's side, the banner declaring how much the team loves the seniors easily demonstrated how important they have been to the team.On the men's side, where there is an unusually large freshman class, the seniors have provided invaluable leadership.
Crippen "really has brought this team together," Hirniak said. "We've become much more of a tightly knit unit. This is the closest we've been as a team since I've been here and I think that's because we've had team dinners together every Friday night. We spend a lot more time hanging out together. There's no one person on the team who sees their personal goals as higher than the team goals."
Especially for the men's diving team, the seniors play a vital role. Eric Kelley and Andrew Barber, the two male divers on Virginia's team, are both seniors. Next year, the Cavaliers will be working with a completely new squad.
But while the home segment of the schedule may be complete, the season is hardly over. Between now and next season, there still lies one more dual meet, the crucial ACC Tournament and NCAAs.
"I think mentally they started thinking a little bit about [the ACC tournament] after the North Carolina meet," Bernardino said. "I think that now it's a primary focus. A lot of what we do now is going to be dedicated towards what we want to do two weeks or three weeks from now."
For the moment though, the seniors get to bask in the glory of winning their last home meet with all of their parents and friends watching.
"It felt really good," senior diver Patty Park said. "It's like a good conclusion to a good season."
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