It doesn't get any bigger than Virginia versus North Carolina in Atlantic Coast Conference swimming and diving. The two schools historically have dominated the conference, and 2012 appears to be no different.
The No. 11 Cavaliers (4-0, 1-0 ACC) and No. 15 Tar Heels (5-1, 4-0 ACC) are the only ACC women's teams to appear in the top 25. The same can be said for No. 12 Virginia (2-2, 1-0 ACC) and No. 16 North Carolina (5-1, 4-0 ACC) on the men's side. Tomorrow's matchup at Chapel Hill, N.C. will provide an important early measure of which elite team is stronger.
Although the Cavaliers have held the upper hand in recent years - including victories by both the men's and women's teams at last year's ACC meet - the Tar Heels brought back plenty of firepower from their runner-ups squads in 2011.
"We have our hands filled," Virginia coach Mark Bernardino said. "UNC returns the most points from last year's ACC Championship for both the men and women. U.Va. suffered the heaviest losses to graduation of any team in the conference, so it'll be a very severe test. It'll tell us a lot about who we are."
As if the challenge of going toe-to-toe with a team of North Carolina's caliber isn't demanding enough, the Cavaliers will face an added degree of difficulty by racing Duke tonight at Durham, N.C. Neither the Duke men (4-4, 1-3 ACC) nor women (3-5, 0-4 ACC) pose a threat equal to that of their Tobacco Road counterparts. Nevertheless, they create an extra obstacle by introducing fatigue as a critical factor in tomorrow's top-20 showdown.
Regardless of the Cavaliers' performances this weekend, the trip could be a season-defining one as they build team unity battling for one another in the pool.
"Since we travel with less people than we would swim with at home meets, it's more intimate, and it's very team-based," junior Meredith Cavalier said. "We have to huddle up and really rally together to win [away] meets because we don't have as many people."
This weekend's meets come on the heels of a successful outing at Virginia Tech Jan. 11. The men's team struggled at the outset before rallying late to knock off the Hokies 161-139, while the women's squad breezed to a 166-132 victory.
Sophomore Taylor Grey was named ACC Performer of the Week after winning the 100 breaststroke, 200 breaststroke and 400 individual medley. His times of 2:01.59 in the 200 breaststroke and 3:56.57 in the 400 IM broke the pool records.
Bernardino attributed some of the men's slow starts to the rigorous training the swimmers have endured while off from school. After reducing their workload during finals, the Cavaliers ratcheted up the volume of practice substantially.
"I thought our athletes did a tremendous job of training through the exam period as best they could," Bernardino said. "We brought them back a little earlier than normal from Christmas and the semester holidays, [then] immediately went into some very, very heavy training. We swam Virginia Tech in the midst of that training."
Prior to the start of exams, Virginia also fared well against a slate of national powerhouses at the Georgia Fall Invitational. The Cavalier men placed fourth out of nine teams, and the women finished fifth out of 10. Senior David Karasek and Cavalier were named ACC Performers of the Week for their contributions.
Karasek made the finals in all three of his individual events and competed in three relays. His best event turned out to be the 200 IM, in which he placed third and swam the fastest time in the ACC this season, 1:48.04.
"The 200 IM was the first time that I swam it," Karasek said. "I've always liked the IM. I just didn't know that I could go that fast. I've worked a lot on my under-waters and that has helped, especially swimming short-course."
Cavalier rose to No. 2 on Virginia's all-time leader board for the 200 backstroke with a winning time of 1:54.09. She also lowered her best times in her other two individual events and raced on four relays.
"I think that's my strongest event," Cavalier said. "I got second last year. I'm really just looking to try to move up and win ACCs this year."
Now the Cavaliers turn their focus to building on that momentum as well as the confidence they've built in long, strenuous training sessions during the past month. Virginia has been the class of the ACC for years, and the current group certainly does not want that status to change.
"This whole week, we call it North Carolina week," Karasek said. "Mark is reading motivational letters to us. It's something completely different. [I remember] my first year; I've never had an experience like that: the intensity, the emotions. It's just unbelievable."
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