Two men. Two humble team leaders. Two U.S. Olympic team hopefuls. Both finished third in their respective events at last year's NCAA swimming and diving championships. Both haven't rested or shaved yet this season, and both of their goals this year are NCAA titles.
Sophomore Fran Crippen and junior Mike Raab are both hoping to bring home individual first-place honors at this year's national championships, a feat that has not been done at Virginia since Ed Moses won a pair of titles in 2000.
The two-time All-American Crippen was third in the 1,650-yard freestyle and fifth in the 500 free last season and is a contender to win both titles at this weekend's NCAA championships in East Meadow, N.Y. Crippen enters the meet seeded fourth in the 1,500-meter free, fifth in the 400 free and seventh in the 400 individual medley.
"He was probably one of the top five recruits in the country when he left high school, and he has certainly done nothing to make anyone believe he is not one of the top swimmers in the NCAA right now," Virginia coach Mark Bernardino said. "He's without question the hardest worker I've ever seen in my 26 years as a coach."
Crippen challenges himself to an extra practice every week, even if that means two additional hours on a Saturday for a total of 10 or 11 practices a week. On meet days, instead of a normal warm-up, Crippen's warm-up amounts to half a practice before he actually races.
"I know that in order to achieve success that I have to work harder than everybody else," Crippen said. "I'm not necessarily the most talented person, but if I work harder than everybody else, I'll be able to achieve my goals."
While Crippen is training in distance freestyle, Raab is improving his butterfly times. Raab is seeded seventh in the 200 butterfly this year at nationals and 30th in the 100. Although he has won the past three ACC titles in the 200 butterfly and is a returning All-American from his third-place finish at last year's national championships, he has a larger goal in mind -- winning an NCAA title.
"I've been training to do that, preparing mentally, and hopefully it's going to fall together," Raab said.
Raab went to the NCAA's his past two years and said he has learned from his experiences. He squeaked into the meet his first year but was said he was intimidated by the atmosphere in the finals and didn't swim well. His sophomore year he was seeded first going into the finals but became tense when the weight of being the favorite hit him.
"This year I'm going to try to be excited, not nervous," Raab said. "I've been there before. I don't think anything can shake me up this time."
Despite Raab's success in the butterfly, Raab's favorite part of swimming is the relays, and he always is begging Bernardino to put him on the relay squads.
"We took a chance on him last year and put him on our 800 relay at NCAA's, and he put down the best split of anyone on our team in the first time he's ever competed in that particular race as a collegiate athlete," Bernardino said. "He finds another gear when he's swimming in that type of an environment."
Crippen and Raab aren't the only Cavaliers who have earned a spot at this year's NCAA meet. Senior Ian Prichard enters this weekend seeded third and sixth in the 1,500 free and 400 free, respectively. Freshman John Millen is ranked fifth and seventh in those events. Junior Bo Greenwood is ninth in the 400 individual medley, and freshman Vanja Rogulj and senior Luke Wagner are seeded 10th in the 200 breaststroke and 200 backstroke, respectively. Virginia's 800 free relay is ranked 11th, and their 400 medley relay is 14th. If the team slightly improves their seeds, Bernardino said they are in line for a top 15 finish and would consider a top 10 finish to be a "perfect meet."
What else would be a perfect finish for a Virginia team that won its sixth straight ACC title this year?
"I think the perfect result on that last day would be if me and Fran could both bring home titles in the mile and the 200 butterfly," Raab said. "That would be awesome."
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