ACC Championship Central, with Full and Live Results
500 yard freestyle
The ACC kicked off their championship with the 500 free, which was won by a stud freshman in an ACC record, but not the freshman star that many would’ve pegged to accomplish the conference’s all-time best mark coming into this season. North Carolina’s Stephanie Peacock took home the gold in 4:36.86, which is the second-best time in the nation behind only another freshman, Shannon Vreelander of Georgia. The previous mark of 4:38.54, which Peacock set earlier this year, was burned several strokes from the wall.
Virginia’s Katya Bachrouche finished second in 4:39.09, which is under the old ACC Championship mark, that was set last year by UNC’s Katura Harvey in 2009. Harvey was third this year in 4:40.04, and another freshman, this one from Virginia, was fourth in 4:41.27. The two leading teams were roughly even in scoring on the event.
200 yard IM
North Carolina got their second event win in as many races in the 200 IM, thanks to Layne Brodie and a speedy 1:57.56, but again they were unable to parlay that into any sort of scoring advantage over Virginia. That is thanks to a 2-3 finish from the Cavaliers’ top seniors Claire Crippen (1:57.89) and Liz Shaw (1:58.70). Brodie, who is a breaststroker by trade, surprised the field and went out hard on the butterfly leg and, once she got clean water ahead of her closest competitors in the surrounding lanes, she simply matched her top competitors on the last three legs, and that was enough for a solid win. She swam an almost ideal IM race, where she was the fastest only on the butterfly (and only by .01), but was overall smooth and solid through all four legs.
Similarly to the 500 free, the league’s top two teams were identical in scoring in the 200 IM, with 52 event points each.
50 yard freestyle
This meet was supposed to be owned by Virginia’s Lauren Perdue, and she was supposed to be chasing league records, not bronze medals. But the impressive Maryland sprint group that I have been ranting about all season really came through in a big way in the 50 free, with a 1-2 finish from senior Annie Fittin (22.11) and sophomore Megan Lafferty (22.35). The Terrapins probably expected to score well in this event, but even in their wildest dreams they couldn’t have expected taking the top two spots. Perdue was third in 22.38. All of a sudden, my “upset pick” for the ACC’s has turned into a front-runner for Swimmer of the Meet.
In this event, which is Virginia’s best, they really grabbed control of the scoring and made the first big push of the meet. They nabbed 54 total points in this event to North Carolina’s 17.
200 yard freestyle relay
Though Virginia’s Perdue faltered a little in the individual 50, thanks to the depth that earned her team so many points, Virginia swam a 1:29.21 that is an ACC Championship record. Perdue led off the squad in 22.38, matching her individual 50. Her teammate Emily Lloyd anchored them in a 22.19.
The 50 free record, though it wasn’t taken down by the swimmer that everyone expected, went down in this race by Annie Fittin. She led off the Maryland relay in a 22.00, the best ever by an ACC swimmer, and her teammates carried things home to a 1:29.69 second-place finish. Carolina was third in 1:30.09.
1-meter diving
Duke’s Abby Johnston repeated as the 1-meter diving champion with an ACC Championships score of 361.85. This bettered by a few points her mark from last year’s meet. Miami’s Carri Dragland was second at 329.10, and Lisi Rowland was third in 311.30. The Miami program scored a lot of points in this event, with four divers in the A-final, including fourth from freshman Lindsay Lester.
Virginia seems to be repeating their strategy from last season and not using any of their scoring spots on divers. North Carolina’s Jenna Moore was able to sneak in for 5 points with a 12th place finish from Jenna Moore.
Scoring and Looking Forward
This was a day with a lot of exciting racing and some intriguing maneuvering in the scoring. Virginia finally stepped up and took control in that 50 freestyle, but I fully expect North Carolina to fight back on day 3 based on the event schedule. These teams need someone to step up from somewhere and spur on the second-tier of scorers to move up and take every possible point. Often times, these runs will be spurred on by a senior in an off event. Two great candidates for that are UNC’s Rebecca Kane, seeded 16th in the 200 free, and Virginia’s Amanda Faulkner, who is seeded 11th in the 100 breaststroke. Both have a lot of potential to move way up the standings and make a big mark on their teams.
1. University of Virginia 263.5
2. University of North Carolina 236
3. Florida State University 195
4. University of Miami 159
5. Virginia Tech 113.5
6. Maryland 113
7. Duke 105
8. Clemson 73
8. North Carolina State 73
10. Georgia Tech 61
11. Boston College 30
Great to see Fittin win that 50 free and what a terrific lead of in the relay.She was my surprise upset pick. I have always had a lot of respect for the UMD team and the coaches.Durden coming and then leaving within a year and having 3 coaches in two years had to have set them back both with recruiting and program stability but they always seem to make the best of what they have and keep trying to build their program .
Go Terps!
Lauren Smart and Christine Olson’s absence for uva this year leaves them with some holes.