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Cavalier Women Set for 2012 NCAA Championships
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia women’s swimming team, coming off its school record fifth consecutive Atlantic Coast Conference title, heads to Auburn, Ala., to compete this week in the 2012 NCAA Championships. The meet, which begins Thursday, is being held at Auburn University’s James E. Martin Aquatics Center. Live results for all six sessions will be linked on VirginiaSports.com and ESPN3.com will have a live webcast of finals on Friday and Saturday night.
Preliminaries are scheduled to being at 11 a.m. Central (12 p.m. Eastern) each day with finals slated for 7 p.m. Central (8 p.m. Eastern). Thursday’s finals will be broadcast live via NCAA.com and linked on VirginiaSports.com.
The Cavaliers will be represented by 11 swimmers at the national meet, including senior Kelly Flynn, junior Meredith Cavalier, sophomores Charlotte Clark, Caroline Kenney, Emily Lloyd and Rachel Naurath and freshmen Emily Dicus, Megan Fox, Alison Haulsee, Sarah White and Ellen Williamson. Junior Lauren Perdue also qualified for the NCAA Championships, but will miss the meet after recent back surgery.
“We are looking for a positive experience for our athletes,” Virginia head coach Mark Bernardino said. “It will be very interesting to see how this group does. Each of our relays will go through a change with the loss of Lauren, but it’s going to open doors for some people to swim some new races. They all have an opportunity to race against some of the best swimmers in the world. It is a young group but they are mentally tough. They are excited to compete.”
The 2012 event marks the 32nd year Virginia has been represented at the NCAA Championships, all of which have come under the direction of head coach Mark Bernardino. Members of past Cavalier squads have scored points every year with the exception of the 1996 championships. UVa’s highest finish at the NCAA meet was seventh-place showing in 1988, which was held in Austin, Texas.
Cara Lane is the only Virginia swimmer to win an individual national championship, doing so in the 1500-meter freestyle in 2000 and again in the 1650 freestyle in 2001.
A year ago, Virginia placed 13th overall to mark the fourth consecutive year with a top-20 finish. The three Cavalier freestyle relay squads picked up All-America or honorable mention All-America honors.
Two returning individuals – Cavalier and Naurath – also earned All-America honors a year ago. Cavalier was an honorable mention selection in the 200 backstroke and Naurath was also an honorable mention honoree in the 500 freestyle in 2011.
2012 Women’s NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships
James E. Martin Aquatics Center | Auburn, Ala.
Schedule of Events
Thursday, March 15
200 Freestyle Relay
500 Freestyle
200 Individual Medley
50 Freestyle
One-meter Diving
400 Medley Relay
Friday, March 16
200 Medley Relay
400 Individual Medley
100 Butterfly
200 Freestyle
100 Breaststroke
100 Backstroke
Three-meter Diving
800 Freestyle Relay
Saturday, March 17
1650 Freestyle
200 Backstroke
100 Freestyle
200 Breaststroke
200 Butterfly
Platform Diving
400 Freestyle Relay