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ATLANTA The Virginia men’s swimming and diving team dominated at the 2008 Atlantic Coast Conference Championships and on Saturday topped second-place North Carolina by a 273-point margin to win its 11th league title. The Cavaliers finished strong, taking home four victories on the final day. This is the ninth title in 10 years for the Virginia men, highlighting the longest stretch of supremacy in the ACC.
The Cavalier women claimed the ACC crown last week; it is the first time since 2004 both the men and women have won the league title in the same year. The two squads also simultaneously claimed championships in 2003, 1999 and 1990.
On Saturday, Virginia third-year Bjorn Falk won his first career ACC title in the 200 back, swimming a time of 1:44.66. Fourth-year Bryan Stahl placed third in the event, touching at 1:45.61. Both were NCAA B’ qualifying marks.
Fourth-year PJ Sullivan also captured his first ACC crown in the last conference meet of his career, finishing the 200 breast in 1:58.03. John Azar (1:59.38) and Ian Vogt (2:00.63) placed fourth and seventh, respectively. Sullivan and Azar’s times also met the B’ standard.
Virginia ended the day and the four-day meet by capturing titles in the last two events. Third-year Pat Reams earned top honors in the 200 fly, finishing in a time of 1:45.32. Lee Robertson (1:46.24), Dan McMahon (1:47.21) and Vogt (1:47.48) placed fourth, fifth, and sixth, respectively, making it a high-scoring event for the Cavaliers. All times met the NCAA B’ standard.
In the last event of the championships, Matt McLean, Scot Robison, Azar, and Robertson teamed up in the 400 free relay, placing first and adding to the Virginia title count. Their time of 2:56.36 also is a NCAA B’ time.
Rookie John Snawerdt opened the day for the Cavaliers in the 1650 free event, placing second and automatically qualifying for the NCAA Championships with a time of 15:04.92. Fellow first-year Taylor Smith placed seventh in the event, posting a NCAA B’ time of 15:23.07. Dan McMahon was right behind him, placing eighth and touching at 15:30.12. Darren Ankosko took 12th place with a time of 15:37.08.
McLean was named ACC Most Valuable Swimmer by a vote of the head coaches. The first-year from Sterling, Va., shattered four of the six records this week and was also part of the ACC record-setting 800-yard freestyle relay squad. McLean recorded a stellar rookie campaign, taking gold in the 200 and 500 freestyle events and swimming on three winning relay teams.
| Team | Standings | Points |
| 1. | Virginia | 833 |
| 2. | North Carolina | 560 |
| 3. | Florida State | 524 |
| 4. | Georgia Tech | 375 |
| 5. | Virginia Tech | 363 |
| 6. | Clemson | 346 |
| 7. | NC State | 302 |
| 8. | Maryland | 235 |
| 9. | Duke | 110 |
| 10. | Boston College | 68 |
| 11. | Miami | 44 |
2008 ACC Men’s Swimming and Diving Event Winners
Wednesday, Feb. 27
200 Medley Relay (1:27.11^) – Virginia (Bryan Stahl, PJ Sullivan, Lee Robertson, Scot Robison)
800 Free Relay (6:22.93 *!^) – Virginia (John Azar, Scot Robison, Darren Ankosko, Matthew McLean)
Thursday, Feb. 28
500 Freestyle – Matthew McLean, Virginia (4:15.91*!+)
200 Individual Medley – John Azar, Virginia (1:47.06^)
50 Freestyle – Kaan Tayla, Virginia Tech (19.50+)
1M Dive – Terry Horner, Florida State (393.15 points)
200 Freestyle Relay (1:19.37^) – Virginia Tech (Kaan Tayla, Jake Bova, Stephen Hawkins, Scott Beard)
Friday, Feb. 29
400 Individual Medley – Tyler Harris, North Carolina (3:47.36+)
100 Butterfly – Scott Beard, Virginia Tech (47.35^)
200 Freestyle – Matthew McLean, Virginia (1:34.54*!+)
100 Breaststroke – Mickey Malul, Georgia Tech (53.91^)
100 Backstroke – Tommy Wyher, North Carolina (48.27^)
3M Dive – Terry Horner, Florida State (399.35 points)
400 Medley Relay (3:12.49^) – Virginia (Bryan Stahl, PJ Sullivan, Lee Robertson, Matthew McLean)
Saturday, Mar. 1
1650 Freestyle – Joe Kinderwater, North Carolina (14:57.78+)
200 Backstroke – Bjorn Falk, Virginia (1:44.66^)
100 Freestyle – Kaan Tayla, Virginia Tech (43.56^)
200 Breaststroke – PJ Sullivan, Virginia (1:58.03^)
200 Butterfly – Pat Reams, Virginia (1:45.32^)
Platform Dive – JJ Kinzbach, Miami (429.50 points)
400 Freestyle Relay (2:56.36^) – Virginia (Matthew McLean, Scot Robison, John Azar, Lee Robertson)
+Denotes NCAA “A” mark
^Denotes NCAA “B” mark
* Denotes conference record
! Denotes ACC meet record
# Denotes Georgia Tech Aquatic Center record
2008 ACC Swimming and Diving Championships All-Conference Performers
Most Valuable Swimmer
Matthew McLean, Virginia
Most Valuable Diver
Terry Horner, Florida State
50 Freestyle
Kaan Tayla, Virginia Tech
Scott Baker, Florida State
Nick Corder, Maryland
100 Freestyle
Kaan Tayla, Virginia Tech
Noah Copeland, Georgia Tech
Adam Farnham, Clemson
200 Freestyle
Matthew McLean, Virginia
Noah Copeland, Georgia Tech
Scot Robison, Virginia
500 Freestyle
Matthew McLean, Virginia
Taylor Smith, Virginia
Darren Ankosko, Virginia
1650 Freestyle
Joe Kinderwater, North Carolina
John Snawerdt, Virginia
Ian Rowe, Florida State
100 Butterfly
Scott Beard, Virginia Tech
Pat Reams, Virginia
Lee Robertson, Virginia
200 Butterfly
Pat Reams, Virginia
Onur Uras, Georgia Tech
Ian Powell, Florida State
100 Breaststroke
Mickey Malul, Georgia Tech
PJ Sullivan, Virginia
Andy Miller, Georgia Tech
200 Breaststroke
PJ Sullivan, Virginia
VInny Pryor, North Carolina
Rob Holderness, Florida State
100 Backstroke
Tommy Wyher, North Carolina
Scott Beard, Virginia Tech
Bryan Stahl, Virginia
200 Backstroke
Bjorn Falk, Virginia
Steve Mellor, NC State
Bryan Stahl, Virginia
200 Individual Medley
John Azar, Virginia
Steve Mellor, NC State
Pat Reams, Virginia
400 Individual Medley
Tyler Harris, North Carolina
Ian Vogt, Virginia
Andy Brake, North Carolina
200 Medley Relay
Virginia – Bryan Stahl, PJ Sullivan, Lee Robertson, Scot Robison
400 Medley Relay
Virginia – Bryan Stahl, PJ Sullivan, Lee Robertson, Matthew McLean
200 Freestyle Relay
Virginia Tech – Kaan Tayla, Jake Bova, Stephen Hawkins, Scott Beard
400 Freestyle Relay
Virginia – Matthew McLean, Scot Robison, John Azar, Lee Robertson
800 Freestyle Relay
Virginia – John Azar, Scot Robison, Darren Ankosko, Matthew McLean
Men’s 1-Meter Dive
Terry Horner, Florida State
JJ Kinzbach, Miami
Mikey McDonald, Virginia Tech
Men’s 3-Meter Dive
Terry Horner, Florida State
Dan Frebel, Florida State
Ryan Funderburk, North Carolina
Platform Dive
JJ Kinzbach, Miami
Dan Frebel, Florida State
Mikey McDonald, Virginia Tech