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Cavaliers Prepare for Final Tune-Up Before ACC Meets
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. Virginia’s swimming and diving teams will close out the regular season at the Navy Invitational Saturday in a non-scoring meet. The Cavaliers, who are the only nationally-ranked men’s and women’s teams participating in the event, will face several schools from the Patriot League, including host Navy, American, Bucknell, and Lafayette.Start time is noon in Lejeune Hall in Annapolis, Md.
The Navy Invitational will serve as the final opportunity for UVa to compete before the ACC Championship meets and will allow the coaches a last chance to evaluate who will comprise the travel squad.
Head Coach Mark Bernardino reiterated this, saying, “We didn’t want to have our women go 21 straight days without a meet, and we didn’t want to go 28 straight days for the men. We are not racing anybodyit’s strictly athlete vs. the clock: it’s the essence of our sport. But I think it’ll give the kids a final tune-up, a final opportunity to race one or two of the races they’re going to compete in at ACCs. And hopefully we’ll make one or two more adjustments in their races that we need to focus on before the championships.”
Last weekend, the No. 15 Cavalier women (8-2) notched a win over Pittsburgh, winning the dual meet 157-136. The No. 14 men dominated as well, downing the Panthers 159-132 and improving its record to 7-3. The Cavalier men and women combined to win 19 events against the Panthers. John Azar and Claire Crippen (1000 free, 200 fly) were double winners for the Orange and Blue.
The women of the Naval Academy currently have the best record in school history at 13-1. Tara Chapmon and Thuy-Mi Dinh won key races last weekend to lead their team to victory over Penn. The Navy men dominated the Quakers, extending their record to 14-1. The Navy men were led by Erik Hunter and Adam Meyer, who posted two wins in individual events.
American University is led by Ethan Bassett, a senior who is second on the Patriot League career swimming and diving point-leaders list, right behind Bucknell’s Peter Garvin. Lafayette’s Kevin Oswalt recently set the school record for diving, recording 275.30 points in the 1 Meter.
Live results from the Navy Invitational can be found online at navysports.com.