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April 1, 2003
GREENSBORO, N.C. – The Atlantic Coast Conference announced its annual year-end swimming awards Tuesday (April 1) with the University of Virginia winning five of the six awards. First-year Fran Crippen (Conshohocken, Pa./Germantown Academy) was named both the ACC Men’s Swimmer of the Year and Rookie of the Year, while first-year Rachael Burke (Bethesda, Md./Good Counsel) was selected as the ACC Women’s Rookie of the Year. Head coach Mark Bernardino was named both the ACC Men’s and Women’s Swimming Coach of the Year. The ACC’s annual swimming awards are voted on by the league’s eight head coaches.
Crippen became the first student-athlete in ACC history to be selected both the 2003 Swimmer of the Year and Rookie of the Year in the same season. He is also the fourth different UVa swimmer to be named ACC Men’s Swimmer of the Year in as many years. Crippen wrapped up an outstanding collegiate season by earning first-team All-America honors in the 1650 freestyle and 500 freestyle at the 2003 NCAA Championships. He helped lead Virginia to a 10th-place finish at the NCAAs, which is the best performance by the Cavalier men at the national meet. He was third in the 1650 free with a school and ACC record time of 14:46.05. Crippen placed fifth in the 500 free in 4:16.48, which is the second fastest time in school history. He was also an honorable mention All-American as a member of UVa’s 12th place 800 freestyle relay team (6:30.19). Crippen helped Virginia win its fifth consecutive ACC Championship. He won the 500 free title at the 2003 ACCs with a Koury Natatorium pool record time of 4:18.20. He was a member of the Cavaliers’ 800 free relay team that placed first at ACCs.
Burke was named the ACC’s 2003 Women’s Rookie of the Year after an outstanding 2002-2003 season. Burke captured first-team All-America honors in both the 500 and 1650 freestyles at the NCAA Championships. Virginia finished 13th at the national meet, which is the Cavaliers’ fifth consecutive top 13 showing. She placed sixth in the 500 free with a time of 4:45.49 and her prelim time of 4:43.95 ranks second all-time at UVa. In the 1650 free, Burke was seventh with a time of 16:09.31, which is also the second fastest time in school history. Burke garnered honorable mention All-America accolades by swimming a leg on Virginia’s 800 free relay (7:16.40) that finished 11th. At the 2003 ACC Championships, which the Cavaliers won, Burke was victorious in the 1650 freestyle with a time of 16:11.21. She also and swam a leg on UVa’s winning 800 free relay (7:18.80) and earned runner-up honors in the 500 freestyle with a time of 4:44.26. She finished just one one-hundredth of a second behind Maryland’s Shandra Johnson in the 500 free.
Bernardino was selected as both the 2003 Men’s and Women’s ACC Coach of the Year. He has been selected as the ACC coach of the year 19 times during his 25-year coaching career. He has been named the ACC Men’s Coach of the Year 10 times and the ACC Women’s Coach of the Year on nine occasions. Bernardino led the Virginia men to its fifth straight ACC title and seventh overall. The Cavalier women also won the ACC team title in 2003, the team’s third ACC Championship under Bernardino’s tutelage.
North Carolina’s Jessi Perruquet was selected as the ACC Women’s Swimmer of the Year.