This season, the Virginia women’s swim and dive team has been one to remember. Under first-year coach Augie Busch, the Cavaliers not only won their seventh consecutive ACC title, but also shattered the record books in the process. Now, the long season which began with its first meet in October has one more stop for No. 7 Virginia — Minneapolis, Minn., for the NCAA women’s swimming and diving championships.
When he took over the Virginia swim and dive teams last summer, Busch’s goal was to build the program into one considered nationally elite. Thus far — especially with the women’s team — Busch is well on his way toward his goal, and a strong showing this weekend at NCAAs will further cement the Cavaliers among the nation’s best. Busch said he feels the team is more than ready to boast its talents on the national stage.
“I think the odds are on our side,” Busch said. “From a physical standpoint, we’re in a good place. I think everybody feels like their body is ready for this weekend more than it’s ever been ready for anything. It’s just about making sure that your mind is ready to race.”
The Cavaliers qualified 13 swimmers for individual events at the championships and will bring four more swimmers to compete in relay events. The group which will swim in individual events includes two seniors, four juniors, three sophomores and four freshmen.
This marks the seventh consecutive season Virginia has qualified at least 10 swimmers for NCAA competition, as well as the sixth straight season Cavaliers will compete in all five relay events. Of the 13 qualifying swimmers competing, all but three will compete in multiple individual events. In addition, five different swimmers — freshman Leah Smith, sophomore Courtney Bartholomew, juniors Shaun Casey and Ellen Williamson and senior Caroline Kenney — will each compete in three individual events.
Virginia hopes to improve from last season’s NCAA championships, when Georgia claimed its fifth national title. Even though the Cavaliers claimed their seventh consecutive top-20 finish by placing 18th at the meet, the team was disappointed with its performance and intends to aim for a better result this time around.
“I think we all know we have a lot to prove this year, but I think having gone through last year, we know a little better what to expect,” Williamson said. “I think this year we’ll be a lot more prepared and start the meet really well.”
In the month since the ACC championships, the swimmers have hit their taper and spent extra time working on details — ideally leading to even faster times than what they’ve already put up this season.
“It’s just cutting out yardage,” Williamson said. “We’ve had an extra month to work on little things like relay exchanges to make them a little bit better before going into NCAAs.”
While Virginia has always fielded a very strong swimming and diving program, it has rarely been mentioned among the best in the nation. But given the impressive times the teams have recorded this season, this perception could change with a strong performance at NCAAs.
The Cavalier women have set nine school records in individual events this season — Bartholomew on the 100 and 200-yard backstroke, Williamson on the 200-yard individual medley the 100-yard butterfly, Smith on the 500, 1,000 and 1,650-yard freestyle and freshman Laura Simon on the 100 and 200-yard breaststroke. Bartholomew’s time of 50.73 in the 100-backstroke and Smith’s times in the 500 and 1,000-yard freestyle — 4:34.35 and 9:33.29, respectively — are currently the fastest times in the nation for those events.
Furthermore, three Virginia relay teams also broke school records. The 800-yard freestyle relay team consisting of Smith, Kenney, freshman Kaitlyn Jones and Williamson set the school record with a time of 7:01.39 in the ACC Championships. The 200 and 400-yard medley relay teams, both consisting of Bartholomew, Simon, Williamson and senior Emily Lloyd, also set the school’s fastest times at 1:36.16 and 3:29.94, respectively.
Even with these times, the Virginia women still have an even higher ceiling, as Busch and the coaching staff have been preparing for the NCAA championships from day one. Several swimmers did not even taper for the ACC championships in order to further prepare themselves for NCAAs.
“I think this year, more than any other year, we’ve had our focus on NCAAs, and I think we’re the perfect team to do that right now, because we’re so strong coming off all of our dual meets and ACC performance,” Williamson said. “We have put extra emphasis on NCAAs, and I think it will go really well this year because of that. I think we’re all really prepared to swim fast.”
The team is not only excited, but also very motivated to perform this weekend in what they believe will be their best performance of the year.
“This is what got me hooked on college coaching,” Busch said. “Just the experience of NCAAs — testing your talents against the best in the country, really the best in the world. There’s just something really unique and special about this meet. I can’t wait to get back to it.”
The meet begins Thursday and will continue through Saturday. Preliminary races will be held in the mornings, while finals will take place in the afternoon.
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