Ten members of the Virginia men's swimming team will represent the Cavaliers at the 2011 NCAA Championships March 24-26 in Minneapolis, Minn.
Ten other swimmers qualified for individual events and all five Virginia relay teams also will compete at the meet.
"I feel really good about how their preparations and their training and their mental outlook [have] been since ACCs," coach Mark Bernardino said. "I'm going into this meet with a very, very positive outlook that we have an opportunity to have some outstanding performances."
Seniors Matt McLean, Scot Robison and Taylor Smith will conclude their collegiate careers at Virginia by competing in the NCAA meet for the fourth consecutive year, while underclassmen Tom Barrett, Jon Daniec, Taylor Grey, Matthew Houser and Matt Murray will make their NCAA Championship debut.
"We are just swimming to have fun and go fast," Murray said. "At ACCs, you're swimming with a little more pressure because everyone is after you. At NCAAs, I know my mentality is just to enjoy it. I am excited to swim against some of my friends from California who are on other teams and made the meet for the first time."
Throughout the last 15 years, Virginia has finished consistently in the top 15 nationally, and despite having several first-timers at the meet, the Cavaliers hope to continue that tradition of success.
"Our real goal is to see if we can string together three consecutive years in the top 10," Bernardino said. "That's been a goal for this team since the beginning of the season, and it's been a goal of the senior class since they experienced their first NCAAs as freshmen."
McLean and Robison secured automatic NCAA qualifications by virtue of their top performances at the ACC Championships. Although they are locked into exceptionally high seeds, neither senior has been honored as a national champion, and the prospect of concluding their careers with an individual title makes a first-place finish at the NCAA meet that much more enticing.
"Asking someone to win a national title is certainly pushing it to the highest levels that you can push it, but I think if we ask for anything less then we'll get less," Bernardino said. "[McLean and Robison] have been focused all year on being right there to win an individual national title and I don't want to soften that one bit whatsoever."
The senior men have amassed an outstanding collegiate record at Virginia - not unlike the seniors on the women's team who just made history by winning four consecutive ACC titles.
"The only difference between this men's class and this women's class is that the men's class lost one dual meet in their four-year career," Bernardino said. "They've won every ACC title, they've won every dual meet but one, and they've outscored their ACC opposition in every single NCAA championship meet."
The relay portion of the meet likely will prove crucial to the men's continued success at the NCAA Championships. The Cavaliers boast the second-fastest time in the country in the 800 freestyle relay at 6:16.72, with Florida ranking ahead of Virginia and a handful of other dangerous squads from Texas, Arizona and Southern California not far behind.
"All of those schools have a great history of great 800 free relays," Bernardino said. "We're kind of the new kid on the block in the last four years, but we're going to give it everything we have to win the national championship in that relay. We really, really are excited for the team's opportunity there."
The highest NCAA Championship finish in school history for the Cavaliers was a ninth-place showing in 2009, followed by a 10th-place finish in 2010. This year, the team's goal is to continue its pattern of progress by securing a spot in the top eight.
"That would be a lot of fun if we could go 10-9-8 and improve a little bit," Bernardino said. "I would like to see us contend for national championships in a couple of individual races and in the 800 free relay, and I'd love to see us put two or even three relays in the top eight; that would be a big step forward for us"
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