For the second consecutive day, the UVA men’s and women’s swimming teams set an ACC record at the Tennessee Swimming and Diving Invitational at the Allan Jones Aquatic Center.
The Virginia divers opened competition at the Georgia Tech Invite at the McAuley Aquatic Center in Atlanta.
After two days of competition at the Tennessee Swimming and Diving Invitational, the No. 4 Virginia women’s team is in third place in the team standings with 498.5 points. No. 2 Tennessee is in first place with 737 points, while No. 8 Georgia is in second place with 663.5.
The No. 18 UVA men’s team finished the day with 359.5 points for fourth place. No. 4 Indiana leads the meet with 655 points, while No. 12 Georgia recorded 648 points for second place.
The Cavaliers opened the Tennessee Swimming and Diving Invitational with an ACC and school record in the 200-yard medley relay. Junior Caroline Gmelich (Rumson, N.J.), sophomore Alexis Wenger (Detroit, Mich.), freshman Kate Douglass (Pelham, N.Y.) and senior Morgan Hill (Olney, Md.) recorded a time of 1:33.91 for the conference standard and a first-place finish in the meet.
Douglass captured another record, after setting an ACC record in the 200-yard individual medley and a UVA record in the 50-yard freestyle yesterday. She swam a time of 50.30 in the 100-yard butterfly for a UVA record and a second-place finish at the meet. Her time ranks second in the NCAA this season.
“The teams picked up where we left off last night with some great medley relays,” head coach Todd DeSorbo said. “The women flexed and threw down some amazing splits to combine for one of the fastest 200 medley relays in the NCAA history. It was a bit of a surprise for this time of the season, but we’ll take it. We had a lot of other great swims throughout the day, more NCAA qualifiers, a few program records and some fun wins. Most importantly, the team is thriving with energy and creating a phenomenal environment on the pool deck supporting each other. We have lots of smiles and are having fun. That’s how we like to be, enjoying ourselves. Looking forward to the final day tomorrow.”
In addition to UVA’s two record setting swims, the Cavaliers had five athletes record a top-two finish in an event.
At the Georgia Tech Diving Invitational, senior Sydney Dusel (Naperville, Ill.) led the women’s 1m dive, capturing the top score in both the prelims and the finals. Dusel recorded a score of 297.15 during the prelims to earn a spot in the finals where she topped the event with a score of 298.20.
Gmelich led the 100-yard backstroke at the Tennessee Swimming and Diving Championships, recording the top time in the event by over a second. She finished with a time of 52.21 for the first-place finish.
Junior Paige Madden (Mobile, Ala.) led the women’s 200-yard freestyle by over a second. She recorded a time of 1:43.52, second-fastest performance in the NCAA.
Junior Keefer Barnum (Louisville, Ky.) captured the second-fastest time in program history in the 100-yard breaststroke. He swam a time of 52.50, dropping a tenth of a second off his previous career-best swim, for a second-place finish at the meet.
Sophomore Casey Storch (Great Falls, Va.) recorded a second-place finish in the 400-yard individual medley, swimming a time 3:44.43.
The Cavalier swimmers will conclude the Tennessee Swimming and Diving Invitational tomorrow, with prelims beginning at 10 a.m. Finals will begin at 5 p.m. The UVA divers will compete in day two of the Georgia Tech Invite with prelims beginning at 11:30 a.m.
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Chris Graham
