By Brian Kuppelweiser
The 2014 Atlantic Coast Conference Women’s Swimming & Diving and Men’s Diving Championships begin Wednesday, Feb. 19, and continue through Saturday, Feb. 22, at the Greensboro Aquatic Center in Greensboro, N.C.
The Virginia (5-0), Florida State (3-0) and Notre Dame women finished atop the regular season standings with perfect conference records. The Cavaliers, ranked No. 7 in the CSCAA Coaches Poll have won six straight ACC Championships and 11 in school history. Virginia enters the Championship under the guidance of first-year head Augie Busch. The Seminoles, who are receiving votes in the latest poll, also enter the meet with a rookie head coach, as Frank Bradley has Florida State in search of its first league title since 2006. The newcomers to the league, the Fighting Irish, check in at No. 24 in the CSCAA poll and coached by Brian Barnes.
No. 9 North Carolina finished fourth in the regular season standings with a 3-1 record in ACC competition. The Tar Heels have won a conference-leading 16 championships, with the last coming in 2007.
No. 21 NC State finished fifth in the regular season standings with a 4-3 record in ACC competition. The Wolfpack, who won the league’s first two titles in 1979 and 1980, are led by head coach Braden Holloway.
One change of note in this year’s Championship is the addition of the scoring of all 24 competitors competing in a swimming final. In previous years, only the top 16 competitors received points that counted toward their team’s total.
A live video stream of event finals will be available on theACC.com on Thursday through Saturday from 7 to 9 p.m., with Dean Linke handling play-by-play and Frank Comfort adding analysis.
There is no charge for admission to the 2014 ACC Swimming & Diving Championships. Parking is available for $8 or for $15 for a session pass.
All championship information, including a full event schedule and live results, can be found at the official championship website, http://theacc.co/SwimDiveChamps. Fans can also get updates by following along on Twitter, @ACCSwimDive.
The Men’s Swimming Championship will be held one week later from Feb. 26 through March 1.
