Swimming and Diving Takes on National Powers in Chapel Hill

Jan. 6, 2011

CHAPEL HILL, NC – The Clemson men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams will take on North Carolina and Kentucky on Saturday beginning at 11 a.m. at Koury Natatorium in Chapel Hill. The meet was previously scheduled to be held in Clemson, but an 8″ pump discharge pipe ruptured in the pool pump room during the Christmas break, flooding the basement of Fike Recreation Center, and causing extensive electrical and plumbing damage.

The Tigers will enter the meet with both the men’s and women’s teams sitting at 3-1 for the dual season. They will face perhaps their toughest challenge to date, as North Carolina comes into Saturday’s contest ranked 11th in the latest women’s poll and 12th in the men’s poll. Kentucky is also one of the top vote-getters among unranked squads.

Tori Cervone will lead the Tigers in the three-team meet. Cervone is first on the team in four events this season, including the 200 backstroke, 200 butterfly, and the 200 and 400 individual medleys. Chris Dart leads Clemson’s men’s team in the 100 and 200 backstroke, as well as the 200 individual medley.

The Tar Heels boast one of the conference’s top sprint freestyle swimmers in Rebecca Kane, who will go head-to-head with Clemson’s Meg Anderson. Layne Brodie is arguably the best in the ACC in the breaststroke, posting the best time in the conference in both the 100 and 200 meters this season. She is also currently atop the charts in the 200 individual medley.

There is another showdown in the sprints brewing on the men’s side, as UNC’s Steve Cebertowicz and Clemson’s Eric Bruck prepare to meet. The Tar Heels’ Tommy Wyher and the Tigers’ Dart also boast two of the top three times of the season in the 100 backstroke.

For Kentucky, it will be the first dual meet since an October 30 loss to Tennessee. The Wildcats will be swimming twice in two days, as they will travel to Columbia, S.C., to face South Carolina and College of Charleston on Friday afternoon. One of the Wildcats’ top women’s swimmers is Lindsey Graessle, who is fifth in the SEC in both the 100 and 200 breaststroke.