ACC Weekly Preview: UNC Heads to Georgia, Notre Dame Welcomes Louisville

Photo Courtesy: North Carolina Athletics

The first weekend of October will mark the first full weekend of major conference college swimming, and seven teams in the Atlantic Coast Conference will be in action, all but one of whom will be competing against foes for the first time all season.

Among the highlight meets, North Carolina will head to Athens to face the new-look Georgia Bulldogs for the fourth straight year. In 2014, the Tar Heel men came up just a few points short of an upset. In 2015, it was the UNC women just missing out. But in that stretch, North Carolina has yet to score a single meet win over Georgia.

And this year figures to be a transition year for the Tar Heel women, with World University Games champion Hellen Moffitt graduated and now training in Charlotte. Sprinter Caroline Baldwin, also on the U.S. team at WUGs, returns for her senior season.

On the men’s side, Australian Jorden Merilees was UNC’s top scorer for much of last season, but this year, the Tar Heels will hope for continued improvement from seniors Henry Campbell (distance/IM) and Craig Elmslie (breast).

Meanwhile, Louisville will head up to South Bend, Ind., to be part of Notre Dame’s annual relay meet Friday afternoon, and then the two squads will face off in an all-ACC dual meet Saturday.

The Irish were impressive last season in their first full year with head coach Mike Litzinger leading the women’s and men’s squads, but Louisville projects as one of the conference’s — and the country’s — top teams, particularly on the women’s side.

While Mallory Comerford will of course be the headliner for the Cardinal women, it’s worth noting that the team wracked up big points last season in the medley relays, and star breaststroker Andrea Cottrell has also graduated. Finding a strong breaststroke leg will be key this season, since Louisville should have a strong stable of sprinters to complement Comerford.

The Cardinal men also lost a lot to graduation, but butterflyer Zach Harting and breaststroker Carlos Claverie return, and freshman Nick Albiero, son of head coach Arthur Albiero, should be instant-impact.

In other meets, Georgia Tech hosts Pittsburgh at 3 p.m. Friday in its “pink meet” for breast cancer awareness. The Yellow Jackets finished one spot ahead of the Panthers in both the women’s and men’s ACC championships last season, so both meets figure to be competitive.

Friday evening, Boston College faces Bryant in Smithfield, R.I., and on Saturday, Florida State welcomes Minnesota to Tallahassee. The Seminoles posted a resurgent season in 2016-17 under first-year head coach Neal Studd, and watch particularly for senior breaststroker Natalie Pierce and, on the men’s side, sprinters Chad Mylin and Kaleo Kaleoaloha.

Florida State is the only ACC team to compete already this season after the Noles finished just behind the rival Florida Gators at the All-Florida Invite in late September.

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