ACC Men’s Championships: Day One

CHAPEL HILL, North Carolina, February 24. NORTH Carolina and Virginia each set pool records and the Cavaliers hit a national qualifying "A" cut on the first day of the 2010 Atlantic Coast Conference Men's Swimming & Diving Championship at Koury Natatorium on the University of North Carolina campus. The Tar Heels hold a slim, one-point advantage over Virginia after the first day of competition.

The Virginia 800-yard freestyle relay team punched its ticket to the 2010 NCAA Championship with a national qualifying "A" cut and Koury Natatorium-record setting time of 6:19.23. The Cavaliers trailed North Carolina by .29 seconds through the first 400 yards of the race, but junior Scot Robison battled back during the third leg to give Virginia the lead for good, as senior John Azar, and juniors Taylor Smith, Robison, and Matt McLean earned earned the Cavaliers' 11th consecutive 800-yard freestyle relay title.

In the first event of the evening, the Tar Heels claimed the school's first 200-yard medley relay title since 1996 and set a pool record in the process. Juniors Josh Hafkin, Vinny Pryor, and Tommy Wyher, and sophomore Steve Cebertowicz teamed to clock a time of 1:26.63, finishing exactly one second ahead of Florida State and Virginia, who tied for second place (1:27.63).

Both first-place relay squads earned All-ACC recognition.

North Carolina leads the team standings through the first day of competition–albeit by a slim margin–with 74 points. Virginia stands in second with 73 points, and is followed by

The 2010 ACC Men's Swimming Championship will continue tomorrow (Thurs., Feb. 24) with preliminary events beginning at 11 a.m. and finals events following at 7 p.m. Tomorrow's lineup includes the 50 and 500-yard freestyles, 200-yard individual medley, and 200-yard freestyle relay.

Coverage can be seen live on theACC.com Thursday, Friday, and Saturday beginning at 7 p.m. Evan Lepler and former North Carolina head swimming & diving coach Frank Comfort have tomorrow's call. Follow all the 2010 Men's Swimming Championship action at the official championship website, http://www.theacc.com/championships/10-sd-championship.html.

The above article is a press release submitted to Swimming World Magazine. It has been posted in its entirety without editing. Swimming World offers all outlets the chance to reach our audience by contacting us at Newsmaster@swimmingworldmagazine.com. However, Swimming World reserves the right to choose what material is posted.

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