Feb. 26, 2009

• Thursday Finals Results
• Thursday Prelims Results
• 2009 ACC Swimming & Diving Championships

COLLEGE PARK, MD. – Virginia held onto its lead early lead in the second night of finals at the ACC Men's Swimming and Diving Championship. Three more records fell in Thursday's final as Georgia Tech took three league titles in the session. Virginia's Mat McLean swam the fastest collegiate 500 Free of the season to open the session and help Virginia to a 56.5 point margin over Florida State and Georgia Tech.

In the session's first event, the 500 freestyle, Virginia's McLean put on a show to take his second consecutive ACC title in the event. He swam the 20 laps in 4:10.00 which ranks as the fastest collegiate time this season to break his ACC record, set in the morning session by nearly four seconds. His mark would have placed second at last year's NCAA Championship and was only 1.40 seconds shy of the NCAA record. Finishing second was Florida State's Kyle Young (4:14.6), followed by Virginia's Taylor Smith (4:15.91).

Georgia Tech's Gal Nevo took the 200 IM title with a new league record time of 1:43.34. The mark was an NCAA “A” cut as well as the second fastest collegiate time this season. Virginia's John Azar took second place in 1:45.53, followed by Maryland's Andrew Relihan in 1:46.03. The win by the Georgia Tech broke Virginia's string of seven straight wins in the event.

The Yellow Jackets' Nigel Plummer took top honors in the 50 free to become the league's fastest swimmer as a freshman. He touched the wall in 19.54, besting Virginia's Scot Robison (19.61) by five one-hundredths of a second. Georgia Tech's Garrett Robberson finished third in 19.63. The top seven finishers set NCAA “B” cuts and were separated by less than four tenths of a second.

Miami's Reuben Ross took first place in the 1M diving event with a six dive total of 453.10 to take his third career ACC diving title. Finishing in second place was Florida State's Terry Horner (447.95). Virginia Tech's Mikey McDonald took third place with a score of 397.90.

In the night's final event, Georgia Tech won its third event of the night and fourth of the Championships in the 200 Free Relay. The Ramblin' Wreck touched the wall in a time of 1:17.84 to break a ten-year-old ACC record in the event. Virginia finished second (1:81.21) followed by Florida State (1:18.43). The top four teams broke the previous league record of 1:18.75. The Georgia Tech win was their first ever in the 200 Free Relay and the Yellow Jackets' second ever relay win.

The ACC Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships will continue on Friday with a full day of action. Preliminary rounds begin at 11 a.m., followed by swimming finals starting at 7 p.m. Live video streaming of the finals will start at 7:00 p.m. on ACC Select. For more information, please visit www.ACCSelect.com.