2015 ACC Swimming & Diving Championships: Day 1 Finals Live Recap

2015 ACC WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Dates: Wednesday, Feb. 18 – Saturday, Feb. 21; Prelims 10AM/Finals 6PM (Eastern Time)
• Location: Georgia Tech – Atlanta, GA
• Defending Champion: Virginia (7x) (results)
• Live Results
• Live Video (if available)
• Championship Central

Catching Up

• SwimSwam Conference Preview

Women’s 3m Diving

Virginia Tech, Miami, and Notre Dame got big boosts from their diving squads to kick off the evening session.  Kalyea Arnett took the title in 369.45 for the H2Okies, and teammates Kelli Stockton (5th, 333.30) and Ashley Buchter (7th, 301.05) also grabbed top eight spots. The Hurricanes and Fighting Irish each had two divers in the A-final tonight, with Miami teammates Thea Vock and Cheyenne Cousineau finishing 2nd and 3rd, respectively.

Women’s 200 Medley Relay

Behind a stellar 21.46 anchor leg from sophomore Ellen Thomas, the Virginia Cavaliers touched first to open the swimming portion of the 2015 Women’s ACC Championships in a new ACC Meet and Conference record time of 1:35.88.  The Cavaliers jumped out to an early lead with the fastest swimmers among the top five teams in each of the opening two legs; superstar backstroker Courtney Bartholomew led off in 24.26, and Laura Simon extended the lead with a 26.78 breaststroke split.  The first three legs (Courtney Bartholomew, Laura Simon, and Ellen Williamson) were repeat champions from a year ago, but it was the newcomer Thomas who was the ultimate difference-maker for UVA.

Although Virginia was the heavy favorite in the event, Louisville put up a big fight.  The ACC’s newest member actually had the lead at the 150, thanks to a monstrous fly leg from Kelsi Worrell, who eclipsed Beryl Gastaldello’s unofficial fastest fly split in history with a 22.34.  Louisville’s final time was 1:36.30.

NC State, with an eyebrow-raising 21.37 anchor leg from Riki Bonnema, was third in 1:37.22.  North Carolina (1:37.75) and Florida State (1:37.79) also were under the NCAA ‘A’ standard.

For context, Virginia’s time is the second fastest of the weekend, behind only Tennessee’s from last night at SEC’s.

Men’s 1m Diving

Miami doesn’t have a men’s swim team, but that may not stop them from finishing in the top 25 at NCAA’s.  Freshman Briada Herrera and Samuel Dorman blew away the field in a 1-2 effort, each at least 30 points clear of the rest of the field.

Defending team champion Virginia Tech got a head start on their main competition leading into next week’s men’s championships with two divers in the top 8; Jared Butts was fourth (366.55) and Thomas Shinholser finished eight (308.35).

Women’s 800 Free Relay

The Virginia women went two-for-two in the pool tonight, breaking their second team, ACC Meet, and Conference record in the 800 free relay to close out the session.  Leah Smith, Hanne Borgersen, Kaitlyn Jones, Cece Williams slowly built a lead over the final two legs against arch-rival North Carolina, ultimately touching in 7:00.93 for the win, around fourth tenths under the previous record of 7:01.39.

The Tar Heels took an early lead behind Danielle Siverling, who led off in a 1:44.38, beating out Smith’s 1:44.61.  Second leg Allyn Hardesty extended the North Carolina lead with a 1:45.09, but Jones came up big for the Cavaliers over the third 200, out-splitting Lauren Earp (UNC’s third leg) 1:45.21 to 1:46.61.  While UNC’s Emma Nunn made up a little ground on the anchor leg, Virginia’s Williams had enough to hang on for the win.  North Carolina settled for second in 7:01.83.

Louisville continued their strong evening with a team-record 7:05.75 for third, well under the NCAA ‘A’ standard.  Andrea Kneppers set the tone early with a very good 1:45.62.