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UNC men's swimming and diving breaks five school records at ACC Championships

The North Carolina men’s swimming and diving team finished seventh place in the ACC Championships, which concluded on Thursday. The event saw the Tar Heels break school records in five different events and tie a record for a sixth event.

What happened?

UNC got off to a solid start on Monday, as the team of Jorden Merrilees, Henry Campbell, Phillip Perdue and Michael Mayer placed third in the 800-yard freestyle relay and breaking a school record by more than three seconds. 

The 3-meter diving scores were added into team stats on day one, even though the divers competed with the women’s teams two weeks ago at the conference championships.Jack Nyquist finished third in the event and Sean Burston took home 11th place. 

On Tuesday, three UNC swimmers scored top-five finishes, including Campbell’s second-place finish in the 500-yard freestyle that broke the UNC record for the second time that day, which he already owned. 

Meyer finished fifth in the 200-yard individual medley, earning the two fastest times in school history during the prelims and ultimately the final.

The Tar Heels took home third-place in the 1-meter diving competition thanks to Nyquist. Sean Burston finished 12th in the event. 

Wednesday saw three more top-five finishes for the Tar Heels, as Campbell broke his own school record and finished second in the 400-yard medley.

Craig Emslie broke another school record in the 100-yard breaststroke, finishing eighth in the process, Merrilees tied a school record in the 200-yard freestyle that he originally set on Monday during the 800-yard relay, and finished fourth. 

Michael McBryan broke the school record for the 200-yard breaststroke twice on Thursday, finishing fifth in the event that saw Emslie place seventh. 

Campbell had an impressive swim in the 1,650-yard freestyle, finishing fourth. Merrilees continued his solid form, placing sixth and producing the second-best time in team history. Patrick Cusick finished 13th in the event and set a career best time. 

Lucas Popp finished 20th in the 100-yard freestyle. In the 200-yard butterfly, Meyer won the B final and took home ninth place, as captain Matt Conway finished 13th. 

The Tar Heels ended the day with a fifth place finish in the 400-yard freestyle relay. UNC ended the Championships with 700 points, 9.5 points behind sixth-place Virginia.

Who stood out?

Campbell had a great tournament, finishing second in the 500-yard freestyle and 400-yard medley, fourth in the 1,650-yard freestyle and was part of the relay teams that got two top-five finishes. 

Merrilees broke a school record in the 200-yard freestyle and then tied it again, finishing fourth in the event. He also finished fourth in the 500-yard freestyle and 200-yard freestyle and sixth in the 200-yard backstroke. 

The upperclassmen duo of Meyer and McBryan combined for three top-five finishes in individual events and both were part of the two relay teams that claimed top-five finishes.

When was it decided?

The Tar Heels dug themselves in a hole, finishing seventh after the first day. Things did not get much better from there, but the team broke five school records on the way to a seventh-place finish.

Why does it matter?

Head coach Rich DeSelm following said the ACC Championships are a primary competition every year. The conference has improved rapidly in the past few years and the competitive level has shot up. 

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North Carolina was able to qualify a few individuals for NCAAs. For the swimmers that did not qualify, the meet was important for them to examine where they are in their career paths and to find out what they need to do to advance personally and help the team improve. 

UNC keeps a record of top-ten times in each events and there were 21 new entries in the list from the ACC Championships. Six of those entries were by seniors, which is a testament to a successful program. Of the 15 swimmers competing in the Championships, 13 notched at least one career-best time. 

DeSelm was appreciative of his seniors and sent out a special thank you to Conway, Merrilees, Meyer, Popp, Nyquist and Eugene Tee. He also thanked seniors Josh Beals, Christian Caveness and Patrick Riess. While those three did not compete in the ACC Championships, they were an important part of the team. The squad wished they could have gotten a better result, but DeSelm said he and the coaching staff are proud of the progress made by the team from the beginning of the season to now.

Where do they play next?

North Carolina will hop back in the pool Monday, as seven divers will take part in the NCAA Zone Diving Championships in Auburn, Alabama.

@christrenkle2

sports@dailytarheel.com