Due to a sprint-heavy format, the Virginia men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams will have to bring an extra dose of vigor to Pennsylvania this weekend when they race Pittsburgh on Sunday.
The Virginia men’s and women’s teams found perhaps their most triumphant success last weekend, proving superior to two ACC foes hailing from North Carolina: UNC and Duke. North Carolina in particular is considered one of the biggest ACC threats to the Virginia team, but thanks to a strong 400-meter freestyle relay performance by Virginia junior John Azar, freshman Peter Geissinger, sophomore Scot Robison and sophomore Matt McLean, the men clinched a 156-144 victory.
Repeating last weekend’s performance, however, may not do the trick at this weekend’s meet, considering the unconventional design.
In other dual meets, races range from 100 meters to 1,750 meters, catering to both sprinters and distance swimmers. Pittsburgh, however, made the decision to make Sunday’s meet a sprint meet, and while a meet of sprints alone is ideal for some, it strays from the format swimmers have been seeing since competition began in October.
“We’re going to be doing 100s of all the strokes, and short relays, we’re doing 200s of each relay,” Virginia coach Mark Bernardino said. “That will be interesting because I’m not sure we’re as prepared to sprint this week as we will be three or four weeks from now, but it will be a good test for us.”
The test Bernardino refers to is one that will allow the team to estimate where it stands before ACC Championships in February. It will also be a test to see whether the Virginia athletes will be able to out-swim the historically gifted Pittsburgh team that has taken home many Big East titles over the years. This season, however, has certainly not been the Panthers’ best.
“Historically, Pittsburgh has always been a good matchup for us,” Bernardino said. “I think they’re probably in a little bit more of a rebuilding mode with the young team this year, but nonetheless, they’re a good team with good swimmers, and because of the change in format, we have to be prepared to race different races than we have been the past two months.”
Throwing this sort of wild card into the mix could toy with any team’s training program; however, with the postseason approaching, now is a good time to work on getting out of the blocks quickly.
“I hope some of the swimmers get some personal bests,” Bernardino said. “But we haven’t swum some of these events fresh for a little bit of time now, so it’s my hope that we see some speed, or even just out-speed in the races, even if we don’t come back quite as well as I would like. Just to see some of their initial speed in the races would be good.”
Should the Cavaliers pass this test, they would bolster their already-powerful reputation going into the end of the season. The men and women are both holding their ground at the top spot of the ACC standings; the men boast a 5-0 record in the ACC, and an 8-2 record overall. The Cavalier women are also undefeated in the ACC with a 5-0 record and have only lost one meet, giving them an impressive 8-1 mark.
The Virginia swimmers have proven they are an elite group. This weekend in Pittsburgh, the Cavaliers will be tested in more ways than one.
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