The mantra of the Virginia men's swimming team throughout this season has been "dominate," and that is exactly what the team did at the ACC championships this past weekend at the Aquatic and Fitness Center.
The Cavaliers won the ACC title for the sixth year in a row, tying a record with North Carolina for the second longest win streak in ACC swimming history and setting the record for the longest streak of consecutive conference championships of any Virginia team.
The Cavaliers finished with a score of 848.5 points, easily surpassing the second place score of 537 points by Florida State and the third place finish of 507 points by North Carolina. The Cavaliers won 11 of 20 events and placed second or third in every other race.
The men continued their supremacy in the distance freestyle events with a sweep in the 1,650 Saturday night. The Virginia trio of senior Ian Prichard, sophomore Fran Crippen and freshman John Millen all had NCAA automatic qualifying times while finishing first, second and third, respectively. Prichard won his first individual event since the 2001 championships when he won the 1,650 and 500 free events.
Virginia freshman Vanja Roguj from Zagreb, Croatia, won the first ACC championship event of his career in the 200 breaststroke with an NCAA automatic qualifying time of 1 minute, 56.62 seconds. Roguj also swam to a second-place finish in the 100 breaststroke Friday night with an NCAA consideration time. He credits much of his success to his older mentors.
"We always have the highest expectations as a team, because we strive for excellence in every single race," he said. The upperclassmen "were so helpful and they stood behind every single swimmer in this meet and provided any kind of help they wanted. The team has really bonded, and we have a great spirit."
The Cavalier men's third individual victory of Saturday evening came when junior Michael Raab set a new pool record with a NCAA consideration time of 1 minute, 45.23 seconds in the 200 butterfly, while defending his title from the past two years. Junior Chris Cooper placed fifth, and freshman Stefan Hirniak came in sixth for Virginia.
Raab also was part of Virginia's domination in the relays, in which the Cavaliers won four out of the five events and had NCAA consideration times in all five. The men won the 800 free, 200 free, 400 medley and 400 free relays over the course of the championships. Raab swam in the Cavaliers' victorious 400 medley and said that the men were able to swim faster in their relay splits despite swimming in their individual events earlier that evening.
"It's just the fact that you got the whole team with you," Raab said. "You're not just swimming for yourself. You got three other guys with you in the pool who are swimming. First place on the board doesn't say Luke Wagner, Mike Raab. It says Virginia."
In the diving events, Virginia senior Pete Amstutz placed second in the one-meter diving, and sophomore Andrew Barber placed third in the three-meter diving. North Carolina senior Eric Poitras took home Most Valuable Diver honors after he won the three-meter event and placed third in the one-meter.
Virginia sophomore Fran Crippen won the Most Valuable Swimmer award. He was first in the 500 free, defending that title from last year, and first in the 400 individual medley. He also placed second in the 1,650 free. Crippen achieved these accolades despite not resting or shaving for this meet because he is saving himself for NCAA championships.
"That's incredibly well deserved," Virginia coach Mark Bernardino said of Crippen's award. "There's probably not a single athlete in the Atlantic Coast Conference -- there aren't many athletes in this country -- who are as diligent, who are as dedicated, who put in the time and the effort that Fran Crippen puts in."
At the end of the meet, the Virginia men adorned victory T-shirts with -- what else -- "DOMINATE" on the front and its dictionary definition on the back.
"I think the key to our success is that we're never satisfied," said junior Luke Wagner, who won the 100 backstroke Friday night. "That's Mark's mantra. ... He's the leader for every one of us.All year, all we talked about is anything less than our best is unacceptable."
Although the team did not meet its goal of 900 points, that didn't hinder the victory celebration. The team tossed the Virginia coaches into the water for the second weekend in a row and belted out the "Good Ol' Song" arm in arm.
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