The Virginia men’s swimming and diving team heads to College Park, Md. today for the ACC Championships, at which the team will fight to achieve the same success the women’s team saw last week when it claimed a conference title.
The men, who hold an unblemished 5-0 conference record, will attempt to replicate their own scores from last season in addition to replicating the women’s scores from last week.
At last year’s championships, the men’s team won its 11th ACC title and its ninth in the last 10 years, finishing 273 points ahead of runner-up North Carolina. A championship for the men this season would mark the second time in the program’s history that both the men and women repeated as ACC champions in consecutive years. The two teams also claimed back-to-back conference titles in 2003 and 2004.
Potentially helping Virginia reach its goal is sophomore Matt McLean, who has produced impressive times in his two years and who was recognized with the Most Valuable Swimmer Award at last year’s ACC Championship meet in Florida. His consistent performance this season — McLean owns one of Virginia’s top two times in the 200, 500, 1000 and 1650 meter freestyle events — will make him “a real leader in the pool” during the championship, Virginia coach Mark Bernardino said.
Even as young swimmers like McLean take a leadership position on the team, however, Virginia still looks to its veterans to set the standard.
“The team always calls on their fourth- and fifth-years to really step up and lead by example,” senior Ryan Hurley said. “It’s definitely expected of me, and I feel the pressure to swim very well. I’ve been taught by so many great older swimmers that this is what you do and it’s kind of become routine.”
Hurley will compete in the 100 breast, the 200 breast and the 200 IM, as well as two relays in which he will swim the breaststroke legs.
Relays “are critically important towards team momentum,” Bernardino said. “There’s the opportunity there to get off to a great start and see a lot of people swim, and for the team to gain confidence based on the performances of the athletes in the relays.”
Virginia’s chief competitors this weekend likely will be North Carolina and Florida State, both of which possess swimmers with proven ability and experience. Florida State’s 2007 championship is the only non-Virginia title on the men’s side since 1996, which was North Carolina’s last conference-winning season during a six-title streak. This season, both squads only have one conference loss — courtesy of the Cavaliers.
Judging from Virginia’s history and its perfect conference record this season, it would not be surprising if the men were to repeat as ACC champions. Bernardino, though, said he will not allow the team to become too confident.
“They’ve done a good job at not letting their egos and their heads get in the way of the success of the team,” Bernardino said. “I think they’ve really done a nice job at keeping team and team performance as the focus versus individual performance. I think they understand the better they perform as individuals the more it means to the team, so that’s how we’ve tried to approach that.”
If the team needs any motivation, it only needs to look to its runner-up finish at the 2007 ACC Championships, which broke a streak of eight consecutive conference titles.
“Every time we start getting away from our goal a little bit, Mark reminds us of what happened in 2007,” Hurley said. “I don’t need more than to hear that year to get me back on track because it was not a good experience, and I know we’re so much better than we were that year. We’re more focused and more driven.”
For Virginia, anything less than its strongest performance at the ACC Championships will be unacceptable.
“The bottom line is you can’t make excuses for your performance once you’re on the blocks,” Bernardino said. “As I’m very fond of telling them ‘It don’t matter how you feel, it’s time to perform’, and I don’t care how they feel on game day or race day. The bottom line is, if you’re going to race, it doesn’t matter how you feel. You feel great — that’s the only thing you need to tell me.”
Read More
Scott Stadium selected to host 2026 NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Championships
By Michael Liebermann | 22 hours agoThe biggest event on the college lacrosse calendar will unfold on Grounds.
Abysmal start proves too much to overcome as Virginia exits ACC Tournament early
By Ryan Weiner | 2 days 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 | 3 days agoHow could anyone possibly describe the success of this duo?
