North Carolina swimmers and divers aren’t used to racing at this time of year.
The Tar Heels are in the midst of heavy training and haven’t yet tapered their regimens to prepare for meets.
But for coach Rich DeSelm, this weekend’s Ohio State Invitational in Columbus, Ohio, was one more chance to gain valuable experience before the season’s home stretch after the new year.
“It’s proven to be a really positive experience,” DeSelm said. “The travel, the schedule and the limited amount of rest between prelims and finals have all been challenging. But facing a little bit of adversity is good for us.”
DeSelm said the challenge provided an opportunity for newcomers to step up and for “stalwarts” to emerge.
One of those consistent performers, junior Stephanie Peacock, set an NCAA record in the 1650-yard freestyle on Sunday with a time of 15:37.06.
Peacock, the reigning NCAA champion in the event, beat her own mark that she set in last year’s championship race.
“I had to keep looking back at the scoreboard to see if the time was actually real,” Peacock said.
It wasn’t the only record Peacock broke this weekend. She also eclipsed the ACC record in the 500-yard freestyle in a much more tightly contested race.
