Men's swimming captures eighth straight title
Jim Dallke: Asst. Sports Editor
Issue date: 4/23/09 Section: Sports
The University of North Carolina Wilmington is blessed with several outstanding sports programs that have demonstrated a great deal of success on the field. But the men's swimming and diving team is without a doubt the strongest program on campus. Head coach Dave Allen's legacy at UNCW grew even more this year as he and the Seahawks captured their eighth straight conference championship. The women finished third in their tournament.
"I'm thrilled with how well our swimmers and divers performed," Allen said. "I've never been at a meet where there were such consistent, solid swimming throughout the whole competition."
UNCW's dominance in the pool has been overwhelming since the turn of the century, but heading into the tournament Allen was aware of the fierce competition in the CAA.
"We knew going into the tournament that there were going to be a few teams that would be a challenge to us," Allen said. "Old dominion was one team that we had looked at and they proved to be a worthy adversary."
Old Dominion came in second behind UNCW, finishing 132 points shy of taking the title. The next closest team was Delaware, followed by William and Mary.
Combined, the men and women broke eight school records during the meet, highlighted by sophomore Luke Murphy's time of 15:34.62 in the finals. Freshman Brandon Hicks also broke a record for the Seahawks with a time of 1:49.53 in the 200 Butterfly. Fellow freshman Aidan Akkari was the only UNCW swimmer to earn an individual CAA championship, a testament to the performance of the entire team. Allen noted the importance of younger players playing large roles in a championship.
"[Having underclassmen perform well] is important every year," he said. "When you go into a championship you have to have some depth. When each team is only allowed to bring 18 participants to the match you really need to look upon all 18 of your participants being able to score. Having balance and having young swimmers contribute in the meet is extremely important."
"I'm thrilled with how well our swimmers and divers performed," Allen said. "I've never been at a meet where there were such consistent, solid swimming throughout the whole competition."
UNCW's dominance in the pool has been overwhelming since the turn of the century, but heading into the tournament Allen was aware of the fierce competition in the CAA.
"We knew going into the tournament that there were going to be a few teams that would be a challenge to us," Allen said. "Old dominion was one team that we had looked at and they proved to be a worthy adversary."
Old Dominion came in second behind UNCW, finishing 132 points shy of taking the title. The next closest team was Delaware, followed by William and Mary.
Combined, the men and women broke eight school records during the meet, highlighted by sophomore Luke Murphy's time of 15:34.62 in the finals. Freshman Brandon Hicks also broke a record for the Seahawks with a time of 1:49.53 in the 200 Butterfly. Fellow freshman Aidan Akkari was the only UNCW swimmer to earn an individual CAA championship, a testament to the performance of the entire team. Allen noted the importance of younger players playing large roles in a championship.
"[Having underclassmen perform well] is important every year," he said. "When you go into a championship you have to have some depth. When each team is only allowed to bring 18 participants to the match you really need to look upon all 18 of your participants being able to score. Having balance and having young swimmers contribute in the meet is extremely important."
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