UNC finishes third at ACC Women's Swimming and Diving Championships

They fell a little short.

On Saturday, the No. 16 North Carolina women’s swimming and diving team wrapped up four days of competition in the ACC Women's Swimming and Diving Championships. UNC finished third with 1,080 points, falling behind No. 8 Virginia (1,332.5) and No. 15 N.C. State (1,178). 

“We always want to be in contention to compete for an ACC Championship title, and we just fell short of that goal,” Coach Rich DeSelm said. 

The Tar Heels stood in second place after the first day. During the weekend, the team saw both the 200-yard medley and 400-yard freestyle relay teams earn automatic NCAA qualification times. 

On the diving side, sophomore Elissa Dawson and first-year Maria Lohman placed fourth and sixth, respectively, in Wednesday’s one-meter diving competition. Dawson went on to finish second in Friday’s three-meter diving event and fourth in the 10-meter. 

“I was so grateful and blessed this whole meet,” Dawson said. “It was a really exciting atmosphere for me to be in, but it was also really stressful because everyone was hitting their dives.”

But the Tar Heels encountered a bit of a setback in the second day of competition, falling to fourth place overall. 

The highlight for UNC on Thursday was its performance in the 50-yard freestyle, where four swimmers placed between seventh and 14th place. Sophomore Caroline Baldwin, senior Lauren Earp and junior Sarah Hitchens each posted career-best times in the event. 

“We just didn’t have real strong events,” DeSelm said. “We had some very good performances, but we didn’t have a lot of entries. We were a little thin.”

Led by junior Hellen Moffitt, the Tar Heels moved up to third place after Friday’s competition. Moffitt set school records in with her second-place finish in the 100-yard butterfly and her third-place finish in the 100-yard backstroke. Her dominant performance carried over into the final day of competition, where she placed third in the 200-yard backstroke with a career-best time. 

“(Moffitt) continues to work hard and continues to cherish her opportunities to improve and race. She’s a tough competitor,” DeSelm said.

The ACC Men’s Diving Championships were also held at the Greensboro Aquatic Center on Wednesday. Junior Jack Nyquist delivered a strong performance, finishing second in both the one- and three-meter events. 

Quotable

“We’re not used to being that far down, so I think we definitely had our sights set on finishing higher.” — DeSelm on his team’s third-place finish in the ACC Championships.

Notable

The Tar Heels are notably consistent in ACC Championships. They have finished first, second or third every year since the meet began in 1979. 

Three numbers that matter

3: Following her performance on Friday, Moffitt holds the three fastest times in UNC history in the 100-yard butterfly. 

4: All four of the Tar Heels’ relay teams posted NCAA qualifying times. 

38: The number of times UNC has placed in the top three in the ACC Championships. 

What’s next?

The North Carolina men’s swimming team will compete in the ACC Championships this week, starting on Wednesday. 

 sports@dailytarheel.com