UNC swimmers and divers compete in first ever ACC-Big Ten challenge

The UNC swimming and diving team joined the ACC in the inaugural ACC-Big Ten Challenge this weekend. Purdue University hosted the short-course yards dual meet against the two conferences. 

The Big Ten won both the men’s and women’s competitions with a narrow men’s victory of 179-174, and a decisive 251-102 win for the women. 

What happened?

The Big Ten pulled ahead of the ACC on Saturday with a demanding 123-44 lead by the women’s team, and a close 85-83 lead for the Big Ten men. 

Bryanna Cameron was the single female athlete that competed for UNC on the first day of the competition. 

Cameron swam 1:57:17 in the 2018 ACC Championships team final last season, claiming the title as the eighth best mark all-time at UNC. 

Cameron was back in similar form on Saturday in 400-yard IM, when she earned Carolina’s third ‘B’ cut time of the day with a time of 4:13:87. The junior’s impressive swim ranks ninth all-time at UNC.

“It was really cool to be competing for the ACC instead of just one team. It really felt like there were a lot of people behind me,” Cameron said. “I really wanted to do well, not only for UNC, but for the ACC.”

Sophomores Alvin Jiang and Valdas Abaliksta both competed for the men in the 400-yard medley relay. Abaliksta swam a NCAA ‘A’ team qualifying time of 3:06.10, and earned the first place spot in the event on Saturday. Jiang and his relay finished fourth with an NCAA ‘B’ team qualifying time of 3:08.56. 

On Sunday, Cameron claimed fourth place in the women’s 200-yard butterfly with a ‘B’ team qualifying time of 1:57.35. It was her best time of the season

Another season best was made by first-year Grace Countie, who claimed sixth place in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 22.81.

On the men’s side, Abaliksta swam in a winning 200 medley relay with an 'A' cut time of 1:24.56, and grabbed his season-best time of 53.85 in the 100 breaststroke. That was good for a fifth-place finish in the race for the ACC. 

Jiang also had a season-best time in the 100-yard backstroke that earned him the third place spot, pulling ahead just one one-hundredth of a second in front of Duke’s Max St. George. 

Senior Maria Lohman was the single Tar Heel participating in the women's three-meter springboard. She finished ninth of 12 participants with a score of 289.40

Who stood out?

Cameron beat her personal record in the 400-yard IM on Saturday, and the successful swim ranks ninth all-time at UNC for the event. 

“It felt really great,” Cameron said. “I just wanted to do the best I could, so getting a PR was way more than I expected. I was really happy with it.” 

In addition to her personal record, the Tar Heels had three NCAA ‘B’ qualifying times and three more season bests. 

“I think that the fact that almost everyone who came on this trip did well gives the rest of our team confidence,” head swimming coach Rich DeSelm said. 

When was it decided?

The wide lead the Big Ten had over the ACC women on Saturday seemed to set the tone for the rest of the competition. 

By the end of Sunday, the Big Ten extended the lead to the end result of 251 to the ACC’s 102. 

For the men, Saturday’s narrow lead for the Big Ten wasn’t enough to decide. It was a competition that ultimately ended in a narrow five point difference. 

Why does it matter?

The first ever ACC-Big Ten Challenge was a confidence boost to the UNC team, but also a learning experience for Cameron. 

“I got to see how different teams handle meets from an insider point of view instead of observing them from another team,” Cameron said. “There’s definitely things I could take away, mindsets that I learned from other teams that I can take to Georgia Tech.”

DeSelm also said that the challenge was helpful for the Tar Heels. 

“I think it propelled us into another great cycle of training,” the 11th-year head coach said.

When do they play next?

The UNC swimming and diving team will travel to Atlanta for the three-day Georgia Tech Invitational that starts on Nov. 15th. 

“I’m very much looking forward to great performances in Atlanta in a week," DeSelm said. "It’ll be some very, very stiff, high-powered competition.” 

@jillianDTH

@DTHSports | sports@dailytarheel.com