After the North Carolina swim and dive team's meet on Saturday, Alvin Jiang and Caroline Baldwin both sit at the top of this season's ACC leaderboards.
Both swimmers recorded conference-best times in their respective 100-yard backstroke events. As a team, the men upset No. 19 Virginia Tech, 166-134. It was the Tar Heels' first win on the season after losing their first two meets against Georgia and South Carolina on the road.
The women's team, which is ranked No. 19 in the country, won their second consecutive meet. In a ranked matchup against the No. 21 Hokies, the Tar Heels won, 178.5-121.5.
Jiang, a first-year, finished the 100-yard backstroke with an ACC-best time of 46.83 seconds, and also won the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 48.15. The former USA Swimming Scholastic All-American stunned in his first collegiate home meet and fed off the home crowd in Koury Natatorium.
“It was insane, like the energy level here,” he said. “Swimming collegiately at a home meet, when all the parents show up, it’s very much in my comfort zone. And I think it really helped me, and the team, show up today.”
The Colleyville, Tex., native knows how much this first win meant for the UNC men’s team, and how it will serve as a huge momentum boost for next week’s home meet. The Tar Heels will host No. 5 Texas on Nov. 11, but Jiang isn’t looking that far ahead.
“We have to get right back into work,” he said. “I think it’s important not to look too far ahead, and just stay in the present mind. And when the time comes, we just race.”
First-year Alvin Jiang (second from bottom) competes in the men's 100-yard backstroke on during Saturday's meet in Koury Natatorium.
Another first-year who impressed was diver Greg Duncan, who finished second in both the men’s one-meter and three-meter diving events. Duncan, who missed the previous meet against South Carolina due to strep throat, was excited to get in his home pool this week.