As the Virginia swimming team travels to Maryland for its final regular season meet and looks forward to postseason competition away from its home pool, the Cavaliers will turn to their own well-traveled native son, Luke Anderson, to carry them to victory.
Although the Virginia swimming team has completed its home schedule, traveling away from the comfort of Charlottesville is nothing new for sophomore Anderson. The summer before his 10th grade year, Anderson's family moved to Charlottesville, but after deciding that high school swimming "didn't exist" in the state, he transferred to a Florida boarding school that offered a swimming program to meet his needs.
When it came time to choose a college, however, the decision was easy.
"I wanted to come back home for college since I'd been away," Anderson said. "I had already done the away-from-home thing."
But close proximity to family was not the only lure.
In addition to U.Va. being strong academically, "the swimming program here is on the verge of being a Top-10 team nationally, but we're not quite there yet" Anderson said. "I wanted to be part of a program that was trying to do that and help with that process instead of being on a team that was already there."
Anderson entered the Virginia program with a large and highly touted freshman class. More of a distance swimmer in high school, Anderson began tackling shorter distances, filling empty spaces on the Virginia lineup under the supervision of coach Mark Bernardino.
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"There were spaces to fill in the 50 and 100 free and that just fell into place from the start," Anderson said. "The transfer for me turned out to be easy and I prefer the shorter distances now."
Anderson's preferences proved lucrative as he finished his rookie season sitting atop the ACC Tournament field in the 100-meter free and 200 free. He also touched in second in the 50 free. With the impressive conference finish, Anderson qualified for the NCAA Championships. There, the Virginia men placed 13th.
"Luke experienced phenomenal freshman success," Bernardino said. "He probably didn't get due recognition last year but he was a consistent force for us."
This year, Anderson has continued to impress and exceed expectations. A two-time ACC men's swimmer of the week, his continued intensity and focus have been rewarded with faster in-season times in the free events. Anderson also swims legs of free and medley relays. He is on track to surpass his ACC tournament times, leading to another ticket to the NCAAs. Bernardino further cites Anderson's leadership role on the team as an important quality in his swimmer and is optimistic about his chances in the fast-approaching postseason.
"He's made incredible positive steps forward this season," Bernardino said. "When I face him off against the other team's top opponent, he's risen to the task. He's on target for a tremendous post-season."
Bernardio said he hopes to see Anderson finish in the top of his events and make first-team All-American.
Such predictions may seem intimidating but Anderson said he relishes the challenge. Against Maryland, with the rest of the Cavalier squads, he hopes to continue to fine-tune his performances and prepare for postseason success.
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