For over a decade stretching from 1999-2013, the words “Virginia men’s swimming and diving” and “ACC Champions” were essentially synonymous. The Cavaliers won 14 of the 15 conference championships during that span under former coach Mark Bernardino.
So when Virginia placed 4th at the meet a year ago — the lowest finish since 1997 — it became clear that the tides had turned. No longer were the Cavaliers the alpha-dogs of an average conference. Now they were just one of many teams scrapping for every point they could get in one of the nation’s best leagues.
Come Wednesday, Virginia (1-5, 0-2 ACC) will need to bring its best effort once again as it takes 16 swimmers to Atlanta, Georgia to battle for the conference crown. And like last season, the competition will do coach Augie Busch and his team no favors as they seek the program’s 17th ACC title.
The conference is headlined by No. 3 N.C. State — which beat Virginia 181-112 on Nov. 15. Newcomer No. 11 Louisville, archrival No. 16 North Carolina and reigning ACC champion No. 17 Virginia Tech round out the conference’s four ranked teams. Virginia is one of three other squads — along with Florida State and Notre Dame — receiving votes.
“There are several teams here that could be top-10 at NCAA’s,” Busch said. “It’s a very high level of competition. The conference has really come a long way in the past couple of years.”
But Virginia will have a leg up on the competition, as the male divers competed last weekend at the women’s ACC meet. And senior JB Kolod used his usual, steady performance to show why he is a reigning All-American in the 3-meter and platform events.
The Pittsburgh, Pa. native — who holds every program diving record — became the first diver to earn All-ACC honors in all three diving events. Kolod placed second on the platform dive, while earning a pair of third place finishes on the 1 and 3-meter events.
“He seems to have significantly improved from a year ago,” Busch said. “He’s got lofty goals for four weeks from now [at the NCAA Championships]. He’s done a great job for us this week by scoring top three in three [events].”
But while Kolod stands as the diving team’s superstar, junior Yannick Kaeser is the swimmers’ heavyweight. He is the only male swimmer yet to shave for this meet, as he has his taper set on the NCAA championships.
Kaeser — the defending ACC champion in both the 100 and 200-yard breaststroke — earned All-American honors a season ago in the 200-yard breaststroke. He currently holds the seventh fastest time in the country for 200-yard event and the 11th fastest in the 100-yards.
“He’s one of the best breaststrokers in the country,” Busch said. “His target is four weeks from now, but I anticipate for him to still do very well.”
Even though both Kolod and Kaeser certainly stand out based on their proficiency in the water, they also attract attention simply because of Virginia’s inexperience.
Suspensions of five of the Cavaliers’ top swimmers for 2014 and subsequent injuries and transfers left Virginia handicapped for the remainder of the season, forcing the team to rely on underclassmen performances.
However, in the face of adversity, the Cavalier men have fared relatively well, even despite their misleading dual meet record. Sophomore Austin Quinn emerged and secured the 28th fastest time in the country in the 200-yard backstroke in addition to finishing well in both freestyle and individual medley events. Freshman Brendan Casey and sophomore Matt Lockman also rose up to provide strong performances in the freestyle discipline.
“I think we have five people on this team that were on the ACC team last year, so for a lot of the people, this will be their first time at ACC’s,” Lockman said. “That in and of itself is pretty amazing.”
And now that Virginia — with the exception of Kaeser — is finally well rested, the Cavaliers should provide plenty of career-best performances. Although earning another conference championship will be a stretch, Busch is eager to see the times his swimmers can put up as he hopes this team will lay the foundation for his era of Virginia men’s swimming and diving.
“Just the excitement of the meet itself will provide a lot of that adrenaline and energy that creates an environment where it’s easy to go fast,” Busch said. “They just need to take the mentality of being fighters. Nothing is going to be given to us. We have to race hard to and compete with an edge.”
The ACC men’s championship meet will run from Wednesday through Saturday.
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