Coach Rich DeSelm had two goals for the North Carolina women’s swimming and diving team at this weeks NCAA championships in Atlanta — move up in the standings from the team’s 19th place finish the past two years and to have all five relay races score.
After the Tar Heels finished 18th at the end of the four-day meet with 66 team points and all relays scored to earn eight swimmers All-America honors, DeSelm’s mission for the week was accomplished.
But although DeSelm was pleased, he wasn’t satisfied.
“Our goal is to be a top-10 NCAA program, DeSelm said. “And we’ve got some work to do to do that.”
UNC was led by the strong performances of its relay throughout the week. The 800-yard freestyle relay team placed 13th, the 200-yard freestyle relay team finished 15th, the 400-yard medley team finished 12th and the 200-yard medley team finished 16th.
And on the final day, the 400-yard freestyle relay finished 12th to have all five UNC relays place.
In NCAA meets, relays count for double the points compared to individual races in the team standings. DeSelm said recruiting the sprinters that excel in these relays became a priority once the coaching staff “got smart.”
“About five to six years ago, we figured out that relays are where the points are,” DeSelm said. “And sprinters win relays.”
In individual performances for the Tar Heels, junior Hellen Moffit finished fifth in the 100-yard butterfly to earn first-team All-America honors, while sophomore diver Elissa Dawson finished in 9th place in both the 10-meter platform and 3-meter board to earn All-America honors on both boards. Dawson was in position to make the finals for both boards, but missed her final dives in each event to drop from 8th to 9th and send her to the consolation finals.
