UVA Women, NC State Men Chasing Historic Point Totals At 2023 ACC Championships

2023 ACC SWIMMING AND DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Tuesday, February 14 to Saturday, February 18, 2023
• Greensboro Aquatic Center, Greensboro, North Carolina
• Defending Champions:
  • Women: Virginia (3x)
  • Men: NC State (results)
• Full Event Schedule
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Despite the fact that we’re just four sessions into the 2023 ACC Championships, the Virginia women and NC State men have already put the team race out of reach.

The Cavaliers currently lead the women’s field by 77.5 points and are projected to extend that to north of 200 after tonight’s session, while the Wolfpack were already up by 252.5 points after Wednesday night finals.

TEAM SCORES THRU DAY 2

Women:

1. Virginia – 551
2. Louisville – 473.5
3. NC State – 427
4. North Carolina – 386
5. Virginia Tech – 274
6. Duke – 257
7. Notre Dame – 216
8. Florida State – 213
9. Miami – 211
10. Pitt – 163.5
11. Georgia Tech – 158
12. Boston College – 100

Men:

1. NC State – 585
2. Louisville – 332.5
3. Virginia – 317
4. Virginia Tech – 308.5
5. Notre Dame – 286
6. Florida State – 263.5
7. North Carolina – 216
8. Pitt – 209.5
9. Georgia Tech – 187
10. Duke – 133
11. Miami – 74
12. Boston College – 64

While there are still several key team battles to keep an eye over the rest of the meet, including Louisville and NC State battling for second on the women’s side, the focus for the UVA women and Wolfpack men now shifts to whether or not they can break the all-time points record.

WOMEN’S BREAKDOWN

The Virginia women set the highest point total in ACC Championship history in 2020, when they totaled 1492.5 points to surpass the team’s 2014 mark 0f 1433.

The Cavaliers have exceeded 1400 each of the past two seasons as well, hitting 1486 in 2021 and 1418.5 last year.

En route to their record total in 2020, UVA had put up 524.5 points through eight events after Thursday night finals, and piled up 19 scoring swims during Friday morning prelims.

The schedule has changed since, with the meet being extended to five days and the men and women combining, but after four sessions, the same number of finals events have occurred, making it easy to compare where this year’s squad stacks up to the record total produced in 2020.

Upon the conclusion of Wednesday night finals, Virginia had put 551 points on the board through eight events, putting them 26.5 points ahead of their record pace in 2020.

Three years ago, they proceeded to put go 9/3/1 across the 100 fly, 400 IM and 200 free (in ups/mids/downs terms) during the next prelims session, while they went 9/5/0 this morning.

In 2021, UVA had scored 510 points at this point of the meet and went 9/4/1 on Friday morning before their 1486 final score. Last year, they were well off their current pace (421 points) and then went 6/5/2.

*all-time record

The Cavs have won (or at least tied for the win) in every single swimming event thus far at the championships, and that streak could continue tonight, as they appear destined to roll to a historic point total.

Theoretically, if the team produces points at a similar pace it did over the back half of the meet last year (997.5 points on Thursday, Friday and Saturday night), they project to blow by the 1500-point barrier and possibly even reach 1550.

MEN’S BREAKDOWN

NC State smashed the all-time men’s points record last year, responding to their upset loss to Louisville at the 2021 ACC Championships by blowing the field out of the water in 2022 with 1501.5 points.

Last season, the Wolfpack entered Day 3 prelims with 506.5 points, and proceeded to go 10/5/0 in the morning session to put the team race clearly out of reach.

This year, they’ve already amassed a whopping 585 points, but were slightly weaker in the most recent prelim session, going 9/3/1. That makes the Pack projected to score 276.5 points tonight in the three individual events compared to 347 points last year, so their projected total by the end of the night is similar: 853.5 last year, 861.5 points this year.

*all-time record

NC State has won all but one of the swimming events thus far on the program—surprisingly the 50 free is the lone race won by a non-Pack swimmer—and they’re well positioned to continue their roll tonight and through the weekend.

Unlike the UVA women, who are well clear of record pace, the NC State men are essentially right on target and it will likely come down to the wire if they are able to break their record from last season.