After earning its fourth-consecutive ACC title last month, the No. 11 Virginia women's swimming team will begin competing this afternoon for a national crown at the NCAA Championship meet in Austin, Texas.
For the fourth-straight year, more than 10 Virginia swimmers will represent the Cavaliers on the national stage. Eleven members of this year's squad earned a chance to compete at the event, which pits 332 of the nation's best swimmers against one another. Virginia never has finished higher than seventh place at the competition.
"We are really excited to have 11 women qualify for this meet," coach Mark Bernardino said. "It is a great honor for any student-athlete to be able to compete in this meet and to qualify this year with the standards as difficult as they are. We feel very fortunate."
Six of the 11 members competing in the event are seniors, and they hope to use their collective experience to guide the Cavaliers to a program-best finish in NCAA competition. Bernardino indicated that this group is built to make history, as the senior class recently became the program's first group of women swimmers to earn an ACC title in each of its four seasons.
"It's amazing that we have a group that could be this talented, this dedicated, this focused and, most importantly, this team-oriented," Bernardino said.
This weekend's event will mark the fourth consecutive NCAA Championship appearance for seniors Claire Crippen, Hannah Davis and Liz Shaw. Crippen and Shaw will compete in the 200 IM, the 400 IM and the 200 butterfly, while Davis will look to touch the wall first in several freestyle events.
The seasoned veterans will be joined by first-time senior participants Katya Bachrouche, Kristen Moores and Anne Summer Myers. Junior Kelly Flynn, sophomore Meredith Cavalier, sophomore Lauren Perdue, freshman Emily Lloyd and freshman Rachel Naurath also qualified to appear at the event.
"Once we're gone, they're going to have to be the force that we were," Bachrouche said of the younger members of the NCAA team. "They're going to have to score a lot of points."
Perdue leads the young group into the meet after recently posting an NCAA 'A' finish in the 200 freestyle to break her own conference record and set the third-fastest time in the country to date. The sophomore will compete in the 50 meter, 100 meter and 200 meter freestyle races.
The Greenville, N.C. native also will swim in the relay portion of the event. All five of Virginia's relay teams qualified to participate for the third year in a row. Bernardino recently tweaked the relay lineups and hopes that these changes will propel his squad to an NCAA triumph.
"We will put our best foot forward in representing the University of Virginia," Bernardino said. "A major point of emphasis for this team has been to compete at a high level at the NCAA Championships. The time has come, and we want to be competitive"
Read More
On an upward trajectory, women’s lacrosse looks to return to former glory
By Lauren Halak | 20 hours agoA strong core of sophomores could help power the program to new heights.
‘Embarrassing’ Cavaliers surrender 101 points in loss to No. 22 Florida State
By Sam Chun | 21 hours agoVirginia falls to 4-8 in ACC play.
McCabe Millon ‘is ready for’ the pressure
By Michael Liebermann | YesterdayA whole new role awaits the star attackman.
