Virginia Breaks Two Conference Records on First Night of ACCs
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Feb. 19, 2014
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GREENSBORO, N.C.—The Virginia women’s swimming and diving team broke two school and conference records as the ACC Championship opened action Wednesday evening (Feb. 19) at the Greensboro Aquatic Center.
The Cavaliers lead with 128 points, ahead of North Carolina and NC State, who are tied with 108 points. Florida State and Notre Dame are tied for fourth with 102 points, followed by Virginia Tech (96), Duke (94), Pittsburgh (90), Georgia Tech (74), Miami (72) and Boston College (66).
“It was a phenomenal effort by those seven women tonight, including Ellen (Williamson) who pulled a great double,” UVa head coach Augie Busch said. “I have always thought the 800 free relay shows a team’s heart, toughness and pride and how we swam tonight really showed how excited our team is for the next three days.”
The 200 medley relay team of sophomore Courtney Bartholomew (Holland, Mich.), freshman Laura Simon (Simmern, Germany), junior Ellen Wiliamson (Ft. Mitchell, Ky.) and senior Emily Lloyd (Severna Park, Md.) broke the Virginia and ACC record in a time of 1:36.16. That time broke the previous record time of 1:37.33, which was set by UVa in 2010. It is the ninth time the Cavaliers have won the event at the conference meet.
The 800 free relay of freshman Leah Smith (Pittsburgh, Pa.), senior Caroline Kenney (Suwanee, Ga.), freshman Kaitlyn Jones (Newark, Del.) and Williamson followed, breaking the school and conference record in 7:01.39. It is the 7th consecutive year the Cavaliers have won the event. Smith’s lead-off 200 yards of 1:44.14 ranks as the second-fastest mark in school history.
The action continues tomorrow with the prelims at 11 a.m. and finals at 7 p.m. Diving action begins at 1 p.m. with the men’s 3-meter boards followed by the women’s 1-meter boards at 3:30 p.m.