As the Virginia men's swimming team prepares for the 2006 NCAA Championships, expectations are high for the No. 13 Cavaliers. Beginning this afternoon, Virginia's nine qualifying swimmers will swim against some of the top competition in the world, hoping to once again prove the program on a national level.
Team captain Fran Crippen, a senior, as well as junior Stefan Hirniak and junior John Millen, will be the first Cavaliers on the blocks as they race in the preliminary round of the 500-meter freestyle. The next swimmers to hit the water will be sophomore Pat Mellors and junior Vanja Rogulj, who will both compete in the preliminaries of the 200-meter individual medley. Senior Ethan McCoy and sophomore Bryan Stahl will finish up Thursday's events in the 400-meter medley relay. Sophomores Ryan Hurley and PJ Sullivan will have to wait until Saturday for their preliminary trials in the 200-meter breaststroke.
Coming off their eighth consecutive victory at the ACC Championships, Virginia swimmers and coaches hope to continue in their success.
"Our goal is to put together our eighth consecutive top-15 finish at the NCAA championship meet," Virginia coach Mark Bernardino said. "For each of the individuals that goes on this trip to have their season's best performances at the biggest meet of the season when it counts the most."
The Cavaliers left last year's championship with a more than respectable 13th-place finish, while nine of the 10 swimmers sent to the meet earned All-American honors, including first team by returning swimmers Rogulj, Millen and Mellors.
"We think we're a top-10 team so we're shooting to be in and around there, and we think there [are] some teams ahead of us that we can surprise," Crippen said.
Men's swimming earned their one and only top-10 finish with a 10th place finish in 2004.
This meet is of particular importance to Crippen, an 11-time All-American, as it will be the last meet of his illustrious career at Virginia, during which he has twice earned ACC Men's Swimmer of the Year honors.
"I'm just not trying to think about it as my last meet as a Virginia swimmer," Crippen said. "After it's all over, I'll think of that. All the hard work we've done, I'm just going to go and have fun and swim fast."
For his last year, Crippen is hoping to beat his performances from previous years.
"I think I could be top-eight in all my events, which would be fantastic," Crippen said. "I'm on a relay that can be top-eight. I think we can contend."
The makeup of this year's crew heading down to the meet at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center in Atlanta will be of particular significance, since for the first time in many seasons it includes no freshmen.
Coach Bernardino attributes this fact to the heightened level of competition this year.
"In order to get there you had to be one of the 22 fastest athletes in your event and we didn't have any freshmen who quite made the mark," he said.
Still, Bernardino has very high expectations for his swimmers who are going to be at the competition.
"I think if we can go out there and perform at a really high level as we aspire to and reach our goals from a team and an individual perspective, to me that would be a very fitting finish to what has been a great season for this group," he said.
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