2012 ACC Men's Championship Preview

2012 ACC men’s Championship Preview by Eric Olesen

• Championship Central
• Psych Sheets
• Live Results

The ACC seems to be in a transitional year after the graduation of some remarkable swimmers last year. So far this season, no team has separated themselves as the clear favorite to win this year’s championship. Virginia Tech will host its first ACC Championship in their new facility and will look to crack the top-3 for the first time. Florida State looks to hold off the rapidly improving Hokies behind great diving and a stud swimmer. UNC will try to overcome UVA for the first time since the 90’s on the shoulders of their seniors. And UVA will try to take their 5^th straight title and 13^th in 14 years. Clemson, Duke, Maryland, Georgia Tech and NC State will all battle for spots in finals and compete for some surprise relay upsets.

UVA will rely heavily on its depth to overcome the diving deficit it finds itself in every year. The men will need to have some big drops from their in season times if they hope to win this year after a mediocre regular season that saw them lose to UNC and Navy. Seniors David Karasek and Peter Geissinger along with Junior Matt Houser and Sophomore Taylor Grey will lead the way for the Cavaliers.

Battling with Virginia for the ACC title will be UNC. The Tarheels are evenly matched with the Cav’s, and bring added confidence to the meet after defeating UVA in their annual dual meet. UNC will rely heavily on Senior Steve Cebertowicz, Junior Tom Luchsinger, and freshman phenom Dominick Glavich. If UNC has a perfect meet, there is a real possibility of them taking the title from the rival Cavaliers.

An interesting subplot during the meet will be what FSU does with their star, Mateo DeAngulo. Having already qualified for NCAA’s earlier in the season; will FSU choose to taper him for ACC’s? FSU lacks swimming depth this year and will depend on him heavily for relays and individual points. Him tapering or not could be the difference between 3^rd and 4^th this season for the Seminoles.

Clemson will look to pull off some more relay and individual victories this year. Senior Eric Bruck is the clear favorite to win the 50 free after posting a 19.47 time earlier this year.  Clemson is also in serious contention to win either the 200 free or 200 medley relay. Duke will also look to contend for a relay title on the shoulders of Senior Ben Hwang and transfer Safronczyk.

Races to Watch:

200 Free: For the first time in 4 years, this race will be free from the Scot Robison/ Matt McLean reign. With no clear favorite, it’ll be one of the best races of the meet. Look for Evan Reed (UNC), Karasek (UVA), Botha (NCST), Stilley (UNC), and Camp (UVA) to all be in the mix. Edge: Reed

100 Back: Another race that was dominated for the past 4 years, this time by Tommy Wyher, will be up for grabs. Can UVA’s duo of Matt Murray and Jack Murfee out duel VT’s pair of Zach McGinnis and Charlie Higgins? Edge: McGinnis

400 Free Relay: UVA has dominated this event for the past 4 years, but this could be the year that they are beaten. UNC looks to be the favorite this year with Cebertowicz and Reed leading the way. Clemson will also throw their hat into the mix. Edge: UNC

200 medley relay: This race is as wide-open as it’s ever been, and in fact the meet kick-off 200 medley relay could be the surprise best race of the whole thing. Last year, the Tigers shocked the swimming community by taking this race en route to a day-1 lead. I’m not sure they can surprise everyone again, but a lot of people will be rooting for them. Duke is a surprising candidate in this race, with an awesome breaststroker Piotr Safronczyk and an awesome freestyler in Ben Hwang. But they’re going to be in a hole early in the race. Virginia needs Taylor Grey (or anyone else) to step up on the breaststroke leg to pull off the win. Virginia Tech needs a good anchor. Edge: Duke

Diving Results (done with the Women’s meet):

1.FSU- 143
2.VT- 109
3.UNC- 74
4.UVA- 44
5.GT- 35
6.MIA- 15
7.NCST- 17
8.DUKE- 10
9.UMD- 6
10.CLEM- 0
11.BC- 0

Predictions:

1. Virginia
2. North Carolina
3. Virginia Tech
4. Florida State
5. Clemson
6. North Carolina State
7. Maryland
8. Georgia Tech
9. Duke
10. Boston College

Miami