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The Daily Tar Heel

UNC swimming and diving teams defeat Clemson

Although the final scores would reflect otherwise, North Carolina did not swim to its potential Monday against Clemson.

The Tar Heel men won 178-118 and the women won 183-104. Both teams are now 5-1 on the season and 4-0 in conference play.

But despite both UNC teams winning handily, coach Rich DeSelm was adamant about the need to work hard and improve as the team has been out of competition since November.

“We weren’t really very good today,” DeSelm said. “It was the first meet for almost everybody on the team in well over a month. We’re a little rusty, a little bit out of competitive shape.”

The wide margins in Monday’s meet came as no surprise to DeSelm. Clemson is cutting its swimming and diving program at the end of this year, and DeSelm noted that has caused a drop-off in talent for the Tigers.

“Clemson has had a great tradition. Given the scenario at Clemson, I was pretty confident that (UNC) would win,” DeSelm said. “They’ve got some excellent swimmers, but they just aren’t as deep as we are.”

A few North Carolina swimmers did show promise in Monday’s meet. Freshmen Dominick Glavich and Brian Bollerman both won two individual events. Fellow freshman Kelsey Cummings did the same for the women.

Senior divers Jenna Moore and David MacDonald swept their events, as both won the 1-meter and 3-meter competitions.

With its next meet Saturday against No. 12 Virginia, both North Carolina teams have their work cut out for them.

“We got an opportunity to compete today, but we’ll have to be way better on Saturday to be competitive with Virginia,” DeSelm said.

In an interview earlier in the season, senior Steve Cebertowicz also expressed the focus on UNC’s upcoming meet.

“Every year, we kind of have our sights set on Virginia,” he said.

DeSelm knows the athletes look forward to this meet from the beginning of the season.

“We have a great deal of respect for how good Virginia is, and we haven’t beaten them in a long time. I would definitely say we are the underdogs.”

Although Virginia draws much of the team’s attention, DeSelm tried to keep the focus on finishing strong as the season comes to a close.

“It is equally important for us to continue to prepare for the end of the season.”

Contact the Sports Editor at sports@dailytarheel.com.

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