UNC swim teams dominate Nike Cup

At the 2010 Janis Hope Dowd Nike Cup, the North Carolina men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams essentially rewrote the record book for the event hosted at Koury Natatorium this weekend.

The men’s team posted 1,440 points during the event, while Navy lagged behind in second place with 710.5. The women’s team triumphed over the rest of the Nike Cup field with 1,569.5 points compared to second-place Duke, which had only 503 points.

The Tar Heels, led by fourth-year head coach Rich DeSelm, hosted the Nike Cup for the first time since 2007. Ten schools participated in the meet, which contained both trials and finals.

The ninth-ranked men’s team won the Nike Cup for the first time since 2004, while the No. 12 women’s team took the championship for the first time since 2007.

“It was great to have the Nike Cup back in Chapel Hill,” DeSelm said. “I was thrilled with our teams’ performances.”

Junior Steve Cebertowicz won the 100-yard freestyle and helped his team win three relay events — the 200-yard medley, the 400-yard medley and the 200-yard freestyle relay.

Senior Rebecca Kane swam in five relay wins and won individual events in the 50- and 100-yard freestyles.

Records fell everywhere. Freshman Stephanie Peacock broke the Nike Cup, UNC, ACC and 21-year-old pool record held by four-time Olympic gold medalist Janet Evans in the 500-yard freestyle event. She also led the 800-yard freestyle relay event that edged the Nike Cup record set by Florida in 1991.

“That was a pretty special swim,” DeSelm said. “She broke a lot of exceptional athletes’ records. That’s touching on some territory that is pretty exciting to think about, given that it’s November.”

Layne Brodie set a new event record in the 100-yard breaststroke preliminary on Friday morning and eventually won the event. She also won the 200-yard individual medley and swam in three Tar Heel relay victories.

“She’s finishing her races better,” DeSelm said. “Her life is in order, she’s worked harder at her diet, she’s worked harder in the weight room, she’s worked harder in practice and she’s seeing some really positive results.”

Senior Joe Kinderwater demolished an 18-year-old Nike Cup record in the 1650-yard freestyle by almost 12 seconds. Senior Tyler Harris and freshman Dan O’Connor made it a 1-2-3 finish for the Tar Heels in the event.

The Tar Heels took the top five spots in the men’s 400-yard individual medley, and Harris won the event with a Nike Cup record-setting swim of 3:46.92.

“That’s (Harris’) best event, and he’s an NCAA top-eight swimmer, an All-American and a USA swimming nationals finalist,” DeSelm said. “It was gratifying.”

Junior Colin Bridier, a transfer student from Montpellier, France, set the school record in the 100-yard breaststroke with a swim of 54.15, breaking teammate Vinny Pryor’s record swim of 54.25 last year.

“I’ve always said the phase from now until early January is the time where you can really break your season wide open and do great things,” DeSelm said.

Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.