Virginia Women Advance to Sunday's Championship Dual
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The Virginia women’s swimming and diving team advanced to the championship of the CSCAA Dual Meet Challenge with a 43-1 victory against Michigan on the second day of the three-day meet being held Nov. 21-23 in Knoxville, Tenn.
The College Swimming & Diving Coaches Association is putting on this first-of-its-kind event showcasing top collegiate swimming programs in an innovative, four-team, double-elimination tournament with a head-to-head format. Participating teams include one team representing each of the Power 4 conferences: Tennessee (SEC), Michigan (Big Ten), Arizona State (Big 12), and Virginia (ACC).
The meet features six swimmers per race, each in two-swimmer head-to-head match-ups. Teams receive one point per head-to-head match-up won. The winner of each individual race earns a bonus point. Relays are two points per head-to-head match-up.
The top-seeded Virginia women faced 2-seed Michigan in a winner’s bracket match-up, with the Cavaliers sweeping every head-to-head match-up except one in the 200 Freestyle.
The fourth-seeded UVA men’s team swam a much closer dual against third-seeded Michigan, with the Wolverines topping the Cavaliers 24-20.
The Michigan men jumped out to a 6-0 lead after finishing 1-2 in the opening relay. The Cavaliers chipped away at the deficit and took a 12-10 lead after sweeping the head-to-head match-ups in the 200 Butterfly, but Michigan moved back ahead with a sweep in the 500 Free. Virginia moved back into the lead in the second-to-last individual event, sweeping the 200 Back to go up 18-16, but Michigan swept the final individual event, the 200 Breast, to lead 20-18 heading into the final relay. The Wolverines won the 200 Free relay by .09 seconds to secure their 24-20 victory.
The Cavalier men won six of the eight individual races and set two program records. Freshman Thomas Heilman set the UVA record in the 200 Fly (1:39.09), and freshman Maximus Williamson set the standard in the 200 IM (1:41.61).
The men will swim in the third/fourth place dual on Sunday morning at 10 a.m. The women will swim in the championship dual at 12:45 p.m.