Virginia Heads to Women’s ACC Swimming and Diving Championships
Meet Information | Schedule of Events | Psych Sheet | Live Results | Notes
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia women’s swimming and diving team will look to defend its 2018 conference title this week as the Cavaliers compete at the Women’s ACC Swimming and Diving Championships (Feb. 20-23) at the Greensboro Aquatic Center. The meet will also feature the men’s diving events ahead of the men’s ACC Championships next week.
Competition will begin on Wednesday at 11 a.m. as the meet opens with the men’s 1m board. Wednesday’s swimming competition will start at 5:15 p.m. Morning preliminary races will begin at 10 a.m. for the remainder of the week as finals start at 6 p.m.
Follow the Action
ESPNU will stream the finals on Thursday, Friday and Saturday beginning at 6 p.m. on all three days. Fans can also access the stream on ACC Network Extra through the WatchESPN app. Links to the stream and to live results will be available at VirigniaSports.com. Updates throughout the meet will be provided on the team’s official Twitter account (@UVASwimDive).
COMMONWEALTH CLASH
• There is a point at stake this week in the Virginia529 Commonwealth Clash.
• The Commonwealth Clash presented by Virginia529 is a head-to-head, points-based competition between the athletic teams at the University of Virginia and Virginia Tech. The Commonwealth Clash encourages a friendly, statewide rivalry between the two schools across all school-sponsored sports with 21 individual event points on the line. The school that accumulates 11 points or more will be crowned the winner and take home the Virginia529 Commonwealth Clash trophy. Visit www.TheCommonwealthClash.com for more information.
• Virginia Tech currently leads this year’s challenge, 5-3.5.
The Meet
• Virginia will look to record its 11th ACC title in 12 years and 16th conference title in program history.
• UVA holds a 6-2 dual meet record for the season and a 4-1 league record with wins against Pittsburgh, Louisville, Virginia Tech and North Carolina. The team’s lone conference loss came in the last meet of the regular season to NC State, after a tough competition against North Carolina the day prior.
Pacing the Meet
• Sophomore Paige Madden (Mobile, Ala.) enters as the top swimmer in the 500-yard freestyle (4:39.19), and holds the conference’s second-best time in the 200-yard backstroke and fifth-best time in the 200-yard freestyle (1:45.35).
• Junior Morgan Hill (Olney, Md.) enters with the second-best time this season in the 200-yard freestyle (1:44.47) and third-best times in both the 50 (22.05) and 100-yard freestyle (47.83). She also ranks fifth in the 100-yard butterfly (52.16).
• Two Cavaliers rank in the top five in a breaststroke event. Freshman Kaki Christensen (Darien, Conn.) holds the fourth-best conference swim in the 100 (1:00.00) and 200-yard breaststroke (2:10.38), while senior Vivian Tafuto (Hummelstown, Pa.) ranks fifth in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:10.67).
• Sophomore Abby Richter (Henderson, Nev.) recorded the third best swim this season in the 200-yard individual medley (1:57.85).
• Junior Sydney Dusel (Naperville, Ill.) finished in the top two on both boards at all six dual meets. The junior won 13 events during dual meet competition in addition to finishing first on the 3m board at the SMU Classic and the 1m board at the Navy Diving Invite. She also finished second on the 3m board at the ACC/Big Ten Challenge and Navy Diving Invite.
In the Records
• Three Hoos set school records during the year. Hill set a record in the 100-yard freestyle, Dusel set a record on the 1-meter board (335.00) and senior Kylie Towbin (New Canaan, Conn.) set a record on the 3-meter board (392.25).