Louisville and Virginia won three events apiece as five records were broken on Friday night at the 2016 ACC Women’s Swimming & Diving Championship, held at the Greensboro Aquatic Center.
Virginia’s Kaitlin Jones and Courtney Bartholomew won individual championships for the Cavaliers, while the 400 medley relay squad won a close race over the Cardinals. Bartholomew’s win in the 100 backstroke tied the Virginia program record with eight career individual titles as she became the third swimmer in ACC history to win the event four times.
The Cavaliers maintained their lead in the team race with a three-day total of 897.5 points. NC State sits in second with 807, followed by North Carolina with 733 and Louisville with 707.
“These women have a lot of fight in them and it showed tonight,” said Virginia coach Augie Busch. “They came out and made a statement from the first race. There were inspirational performances all around, most notably Courtney and our medley relay defending their ACC titles and an incredible showing on 3m by Becca [Corbett].
“Now we have to regroup and get ready for a critical session tomorrow and we couldn't be more excited about the opportunity to defend our team title.”
The Cardinals won three of the six swimming events on the night, setting three records in the process. Kelsi Worrell, Mallory Comerford, and Andrea Cottrell took home the individual titles for Louisville.
“It’s a great honor,” said Louisville coach Arthur Albiero on the record-setting victories. “It always goes back to preparation. This group especially has done a phenomenal job preparing. We had a breakthrough year last year and I think what I admire the most about them is that they are hungry for more and it showed in the preparation all year.
“For us to be in the conversation and to be very fortunate to win a few races tonight is something that we don’t take for granted at all. We are very proud and very honored.”
The 2016 ACC Swimming & Diving Championships resume Saturday morning at 10 a.m. with the preliminaries in the 200 backstroke, 100 freestyle, 200 breaststroke, 200 butterfly, and the men’s and women’s platform diving. The finals for those events, in addition to the final heat of the 1650 freestyle and the 400 freestyle relay begin at 6 p.m.
