It would have been hard for the Virginia swimming and diving team to turn in a more dominating performance than they did at the Cavalier Invitational held Nov. 29 through Dec. 1 at the Aquatic & Fitness Center.
The 11th ranked men's team won 19 of 20 events and finished with 1,197 points, over 600 more than their closest competitor.
"The team swam great," sophomore Adam Kerpleman said. "We had a lot of intensity. This meet was a lot faster than it has been in the past."
Sophomore Luke Anderson led the Cavalier men, winning three individual events and swimming legs in four winning relays. Anderson set a meet record in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 44.17 seconds.
"Luke had a tremendous meet," Virginia coach Mark Bernardino said. "He is one of the up-and-coming sprinters in college swimming. He has the ability, potential and mindset to make a run at making the U.S. Olympic team in 2004."
Anderson was not the only Virginia sophomore to strut his stuff. Pete Amstutz set meet, team and school records in the three-meter dive with a score of 352.20.
"Pete's performance has been simply outstanding," Bernardino said. "It speaks to his dedication and willingness to improve. He's twice as good of a diver as he was at this point last year."
A number of other Virginia men also turned in stellar performances. Kerpleman won the 50 free and swam legs with Anderson on four winning relays. Sophomore All-American Luke Wagner and junior Guy Yimsomruay each won two individual events.
The 15th-ranked Virginia women similarly dominated their half of the meet. They won 15 of the 20 events and scored 1,064 points, almost 400 more than Texas A&M, the closest competitor.
Junior All-American Mirjana Bosevska won four individual events and freshmen Carrie Ellis and Andrea Georoff both swam legs on four winning relays.
Senior Megan Roesch set a meet record in the 100 free with a time of 50.28 and also swam on four winning relays. In the 1650 free, sophomore Amy Baly achieved an NCAA qualifying time of 16:18.14.
All-American and former NCAA champion Cara Lane, returning from an injury for the Cavaliers, finished fourth in the 200 free, but Bernardino felt it was too early to evaluate her swimming. The team, nevertheless, was excited by her return.
"The team is really excited to see her be able to swim again," Baly said. "We're all just hoping that she can have a fast recovery."
On the whole, Bernardino was very pleased with the team's swimming, despite the weak competition.
"We were never concerned with the score," Bernardino said. "This meet is really about the athlete versus the clock, not the athlete versus the competition."
The team will not swim again until mid-January, but the divers will compete Jan. 4-6 at the Georgia Diving Invitational.
Swimmers will return to action when the men will host No. 3 Tennessee on Jan. 11 and both teams will host N.C. State the following day.
Taking a long break from competition and getting extra rest is "not negative," Bernardino said. "It's kind of positive in that [the swimmers] can recharge their batteries and get excited about competing again"
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