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April 10, 2003
Wednesday, March 26 – The day we arrived in Austin, Texas, we were all very excited. We knew that with the talent we had, we could definitely break into the top 10 for the first time in school history. The night before the meet started we watched a movie as a team, which allowed us to relax and enjoy each other’s company.
Thursday, March 27 – The first race of the meet for us was our 200 freestyle relay; we got off to what we thought was a great start. Our morning time set a new school record and Luke Anderson set an individual school record with his leadoff leg. Shortly after the race however the scoreboard said that we had been disqualified. This was a huge blow because our relay had the possibility of scoring huge points for the team. We did not let this disappointment get us down. The next event was the 500 yard freestyle, and we scored two guys in the top 10 with Ian Prichard placing 9th while I earned 5th place. Next up for us was the 50 yard Freestyle. Our top sprinter, Luke Anderson, competed in one of the fastest fields ever, finishing in 12th place. The last event of the day for us was the 400-medley relay and we finished the day off strong with an 11th place finish. After day one we were in 13th place but were only 5 points out of tenth with a lot of swimming to still be done.
Friday, March 28 – The second day did not go as well for the team. Bo Greenwood had a great morning swim and would have qualified to swim in the finals at night however he was disqualified after a controversial one-handed breast stroke touch. I had a disappointing morning swim and finished in 18th place (only the top 16 can swim again at night). I was very disappointed with myself after this swim because I knew that I did not swim up to my ability. I typically swim a lot faster at night then I do in the morning, however at a meet like NCAA’s if you do not get the job done in the morning then you do not get a second chance at night. In the 100-yard butterfly, second year Mike Raab had a very fast swim, however it was not good enough to let him qualify to swim at night. You can only sore points for your team if you compete at night. In the next event, the 200 freestyle, Ian Prichard and Adam Kerpleman also failed to qualify to race at night. We had finished the morning not qualifying anyone to swim at night. This was an enormous blow to a team that was trying to place in the top 10. The only chance we had to score points on day two was the 800 freestyle relay, which was a timed final. Coach Bernardino was very disappointed, to say the least, with how we were swimming up to this point, and we knew we would need to turn it around if we were going to have a respectful finish. Our relay placed 12th, which scored points for the team, however after the second day we dropped to 18th place. The only thing we could do now is have a monster third day and hope for the best.
Saturday, March 29 – We knew all week long that the third day would be our strongest. Swimming in the first event of the night, myself, Ian Prichard and Dan Demarco knew that if we were going to score a lot of points we would need to get it started. Dan finished in 9th place, Ian took 6th, and I finished in 3rd. This was a great showing for UVA; we were the only team in the NCAA to place three guys in the top 10. I was happy with my performance. I think it could have been faster, however, being a rookie at the NCAA meet I had no room to complain. I was able to break the ACC and school record in my swim, which really meant a lot to me. At ACC’s, Shilo Ayalon from Georgia Tech won the mile and broke the ACC record. I made it my goal to break his record and show the NCAA how good Virginia Distance swimming is. Luke Wagner was able to feed off of the milers’ intensity and earned a second team All-American honor with a 10th place finish in the 200 backstroke. In the next event, the 100-yard freestyle, Luke Anderson kept the ball rolling and finished in 13th place. Our last individual event of the night was Mike Raab’s 200 butterfly. Mike had an incredible morning swimming and qualified with the fastest time. He had beaten last years NCAA champion in the morning and we were all confident that he could cap the night off with a NCAA title. Mike had a great swim at night. He improved his time from the morning and finished in third place. Mike’s time of 142.84 set a new ACC and school record. Our final event of the meet was the 400-yard freestyle relay. This relay was huge for the team. We had battled back from a disappointing day 2 and were now in 11th place before the relay. If we could finish ahead of Arizona State then we would finish with the top 10 spot that we had set as our team goal in the beginning of the season. The relay team of Adam Kerpleman, Jon Haag, Luke Wagner, and Luke Anderson finished with a time of 2:56.3, which was good enough for 12th place. Finishing in 13th place, with a 2:57.3, was Arizona State. We had done it! We climbed back from 18th place to finish in the top 10. Coach Bernardino was thrilled. This was the first time that a UVA men’s swim team had finished in the top 10. We had made school history and did it in dramatic fashion.