Virginia Heads to Men’s ACC Swimming Championships
Meet Information | Schedule of Events | Psych Sheet | Live Results | Notes
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia men’s swimming team will compete at the ACC Championships at the Greensboro Aquatic Center beginning on Wednesday (Feb. 27). The Cavaliers are currently in seventh place with 82 points after the men’s diving team competed last week at the conference diving championships, which coincided with the women’s ACC Swimming and Diving Championships.
The four-day competition will begin on Wednesday at 4 p.m. Prelims will start on Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 10 a.m. as the finals on all three days will begin at 6 p.m.
Follow the Action
ACC Network Extra, through the WatchESPN app, will stream the finals on Thursday, Friday and Saturday beginning at 6 p.m. Links to the stream and to live results are 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, 7-5.5.
The Meet
• Virginia will look to improve upon last year’s third-place finish as the team enters with the ACC’s third-best national ranking. Virginia is ranked 14th in the College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America’s latest poll, while NC State enters as the No. 3 ranked team in the nation and Louisville enters as the No. 8 ranked team.
• The men’s team finished the season with a 6-2 overall record and a 3-2 ACC record. UVA suffered dual meet losses to Louisville and NC State during the season.
Hoos In The Races
• Sophomore Robby Giller (Wilton, Conn.) leads the team, ranking in the top five in three performances at the meet. Giller holds the conference’s second-fastest 200-yard backstroke time (1:40.21), fourth-best 400-yard individual medley time (3:45.79) and fifth-fastest 500-yard freestyle time (4:19.68).
• Sophomore Keefer Barnum (Louisville, Ky.) ranks inside the top five in the ACC in two events as a breaststroker. He ranks second in the conference in the 100-yard breaststroke (53.19) and third in the 200-yard breaststroke (1:56.99).
• In the butterfly events, senior Zach Fong (Moorestown, N.J.) is second in the 100-yard butterfly (45.53) and fourth in the 200-yard butterfly (1:42.02).
• Sophomore Cooper Wozencraft (Houston, Texas) ranks fourth in the 200-yard backstroke (1:41.62), while redshirt senior Brendan Casey (Santa Monica, Calif.) ranks fourth in the 1650-yard freestyle (15:06.64).
Topping the Records
• Two Cavaliers set a school record during the season as Giller topped the record in the 200-yard backstroke and Fong set a UVA record in the 100-yard butterfly.
• Giller swam a time of 1:40.21 at the Georgia Fall Invite to set a Cavalier record in the 200-yard backstroke.
• Fong set a UVA record in the 100-yard butterfly against Virginia Tech, swimming a time of 45.53.
Virginia Divers
• The Cavaliers will enter this week in seventh place after the UVA divers scored 82 points last week at the ACC diving championships.
• Freshman Walker Creedon (Cary, N.C.) led the men’s diving unit with a top-15 finish in all three events. He recorded a 12th-place finish on the 1m (271.30) and 3m board (322.20), and an 11th-place finish on the platform (281.20).
• Junior Bryce Shelton (Vienna, Va.) placed 11th on the 3m board (323.70) and 14th on the platform (269.85).