Six championships is a lot. Six is the number of NBA championships Michael Jordan won in his illustrious career. Six is one more than the number of titles hockey's great franchise, the Montreal Canadiens, has captured consecutively. Six is also one more than the record for most Super Bowl victories by a team, shared by the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers.
The Virginia men's swimming and diving team aims to capture its sixth consecutive ACC title this weekend at the Aquatic and Fitness Center. A sixth consecutive conference title would tie the Cavaliers with North Carolina for the second-longest all-time streak in ACC history, only behind North Carolina State's 12 championships.
The possibility to make history was not lost on senior Adam Kerpelman, a 10-time All-American.
"It's something we used to feed us," Kerpelman said of the five consecutive championships. "Once you get to the top, it's a lot harder to be chased than chase. We got to keep something feeding us. We know N.C. State has won 12, UNC has won six, and to win six this year, we tie their record."
Virginia, ranked eighth in the latest coaches' poll, is 10-1 on the season, 6-0 in the ACC. The Cavaliers' only blemish was an opening meet loss to consensus top-ranked Auburn.
The Cavaliers are led by senior Kerpelman, juniors Bo Greenwood and Michael Raab and sophomore Fran Crippen. Greenwood is the only returning swimmer in the ACC to have won two conference titles in 2003, in the 200-yard and 400-yard individual medleys. Raab, a five-time All-American, is the two-time defending conference champion in the 200 butterfly. Crippen, who was named ACC swimmer of the week three times in November, is a 2004 Olympic trials qualifier and won the 2003 conference title in the 500 freestyle.
North Carolina and Clemson, ranked 24th and 25th respectively, pose the greatest threat to Virginia's record-tying achievement. The Tar Heels (7-4-1, 3-1-1) return two conference champions, seniors Yuri Suguiyama and Eddy Matkovic, in the 200 freestyle and 100 butterfly, respectively. Another bright spot is freshman Tristan Davidson, an ACC swimmer of the week in November, who swims the butterfly and individual medley.
The Tigers (13-2-1, 4-1-1) are led by senior Mark Henly, the returning conference champion in the 200 backstroke. Henly was also the first ACC swimmer of the week in the 2003-04 season. Clemson's losses came at the hands of Virginia and sixth-ranked Georgia, while the conference tie was with North Carolina.
Raab discussed the Cavaliers' objectives for the meet.
"The men's (goals) would be to extend the winning streak and a personal team goal would be to try to get 900 points, which has never been done and it's probably the last time we can try to get that 900-point total with three new teams coming in next year," Raab said. "This is probably the last time for that goal, but we really want to make it six in a row."
With the prospect of fast individual times and a close team competition, the ACC men's swimming and diving championship promises three more days of record-setting achievements.
The event began Wednesday and runs through Saturday, with finals being held at 7 p.m. each evening. Preliminary rounds start at 11 a.m. from Thursday to Saturday.
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