Swimming and diving teams grab gold

After a historic swim in the Saturday morning session at the 2013 Janis Hape Dowd Nike Cup, Saturday night brought about a feeling of deja vu for the North Carolina men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams.

Records were falling one after the other with Tar Heel swimmers sweeping multiple races. But there was one distinct difference — the noise. Behind an energized home crowd at the Koury Natatorium, both teams coasted to first place finishes, capping a wildly successful two-day swim in the invitational.

Redshirt sophomore Dominick Glavich credited the turnout.

“It gave us a lot of energy,” he said. “You couldn’t even hear yourself think.”

The energy came early for the Tar Heels, as senior Stephanie Peacock opened the night session with a first place finish and new meet record in the 1650-yard distance freestyle. While Peacock was excited about her race, the veteran was quick to point to her teammates’ performances.

“I was happy with the record,” she said. “But having almost six Tar Heels in every single ‘A’ final, it was so exciting to see that and cheer for that.”

The depth was easily seen in the 200-yard backstroke, where both the men and women swept the event, taking first, second and third place. Sophomore Annie Harrison led the way for the women, while senior Brad Dillon paced the men’s team.

The Tar Heels’ dominance continued in the women’s 100-yard freestyle, where the squad captured another sweep, this time led by the meet record swim of sophomore Lauren Earp.

Referencing the multiple sweeps, and improved times, swimming coach Rich DeSelm was pleased with the team’s performances, specifically those of underclassmen.

“You want to reload every year,” DeSelm said. “It’s all about your future success, and we have a great young group on both teams.”

Not to be outdone by the other events, the 200-yard butterfly also had its theatrics. After setting a meet record in the morning session, Meredith Hoover was merely looking for a repeat, not another record. But after another strong swim, the senior found herself celebrating another record, this time a pool record, as well.

“I just went out this morning and tried to swim as fast as I could,” she said. “When I saw 1:55 on the board, I was shocked.”

The final time of 1:55.44 beat teammate Sarah Koucheki by a full second and a half, but Hoover, like Peacock was even more impressed with her fellow swimmers.

“It’s so exciting going into the rest of the dual meet season and ACCs knowing that we have this kind of depth,” Hoover continued.

DeSelm was also viewing the meet with the ACC and NCAA Championships in mind.

“We wouldn’t be anywhere near as prepared to face the challenges of the conference meet without a meet like this,” he said.

But while DeSelm remained grounded with the meet results, Glavich could barely contain his excitement.

“I think we’re going to surprise some people,” he said. “We’re always top three in the ACC, but I think this year we’re going to shock some teams and do some big things.”

sports@dailytarheel.com