Virginia Goes 1-2-3 in 200 Free; Wins 400 Medley Relay

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CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Junior Scot Robison set an Atlantic Coast Conference record en route to winning the 200 freestyle, highlighting Virginia’s 1-2-3 finish in the event, as competition continued Friday at the 2010 ACC Championships in Chapel Hill, N.C. Through 14 events, Virginia continues to hold its lead with 543.5 points, in front of second place North Carolina (444.5) and third place Florida State (369). The meet wraps up Saturday.

In addition to Robison’s stellar performance, Virginia also claimed a victory in the 400 medley relay, marking the third relay win of the meet for the Orange and Blue. The team of Eric Olesen, Tom Casey, Peter Geissinger and Scot Robison teamed up to finish in a winning NCAA ‘B’ time of 3:10.63.

“It was an unbelievable performance on that last leg,” Bernardino said. “Scot was the first swimmer in Virginia history to swim a 100 free with a relay start under 42 seconds. There are very few swimmers in the country who can do 41.88. That was just phenomenal. Pete Gessinger, right in front of him, with a 47.08 butterfly leg was spectacular.

“We had hoped to have a little more cushion going into the butterfly leg but we were not able to get it on the front end. It was just an incredible, incredible race by Scot to bring that thing home. Their (North Carolina’s) best swimmer swam a brilliant butterfly and our best swimmer swam a brilliant freestyle. It was a huge swing in momentum to end the night.

“Our goal was to be one of the top-10 relay teams in the country and hopefully that will get us right near there and get this relay team to the NCAA meet.”

Robison won the 200 free in an NCAA ‘A’ time of 1:32.45, breaking classmate Matt McLean’s conference and school record of 1:32.80, set at the 2009 league championships.

McLean placed second right behind his teammate, touching in 1:34.76, while senior John Azar was third in 1:35.82. Taylor Smith, also swimming in the finals, earned a fifth-place finish (1:36.70) while John Snwerdt won the consolation finals to place ninth (1:36.70). All four of those times were NCAA ‘B’ marks.

Olesen, a senior, had a busy night as he competed in the finals of the 100 fly and 100 back, taking second in both events and achieving NCAA ‘B’ cuts. He finished with a mark of 47.30 in the 100 fly final and followed that up with a 47.29 showing in the 100 back. Fellow senior Daniel Johnson also placed fourth in the 100 back (48.22, ‘B’) while freshman Matthew Murray was fifth (48.39, ‘B’).

“Our backstrokers were really good today and we start off with backstroke Saturday,” Bernardino sais. “I am hopefully we can carry that.”

Newcomers Tom Casey and Simon Norstedt had strong performances in the 100 breast. Casey earned a spot on the podium with his third-place finish (54.22, ‘B’) while Norstedt tied for fourth (54.25, ‘B’).

In the 400 IM, the opening event of the night, freshman Matthew Houser paced the Cavaliers with a third-place finish, touching in 3:47.80. Senior Darren Ankosko was fifth, clocking a time of 3:50.93; both were NCAA ‘B’ standards.

Peter Geissinger won the consolation finals of the 100 fly with an NCAA ‘B’ time of 48.10. David Wren was 10th in the 100 back (48.47, ‘B’) while Dan McMahon placed 13th overall (49.07).

“This was a big day for us,” Bernardino said. “We have always been a really good last day team and we train for the long haul. We train for seven sessions of excellence and we are through five of them. If you cannot get up for the last two sessions, then you don’t belong here. Hopefully we all belong here tomorrow.”

Men’s 3-meter diving scores were also added in Friday to the running team scores. All diving events took place last week during the women’s conference championships.

The fourth and final day of the men’s swimming championships wraps up Saturday with the 1650 free, 200 back, 100 free, 200 breast, 200 fly and 400 free relay. Prelims are slated for 11 a.m. with finals at 7 p.m. on ACC Select.

2010 Men’s ACC Championships

Through Event 14

1. Virginia 543.5 2. North Carolina 444.5 3. Florida State 369 4. Virginia Tech
255.5 5. Georgia Tech 224 6. Duke 223.5 7. Clemson 184 8. Maryland 142 9. NC State 110 10. Boston College
36 11. Miami (diving only) 31