Vazquez Named Most Valuable Diver, Swimming & Diving Concludes ACC Championships

Saturday, February 24

Greensboro, NC

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ACC Championships

Aranza Vazquez 2024 ACC Most Valuable Diver

Photo by: Jerome M. Ibrahim

Vazquez Named Most Valuable Diver, Swimming & Diving Concludes ACC Championships

February 24, 2024 | Swimming & Diving

GREENSBORO, N.C. – The University of North Carolina swimming and diving team wrapped up a successful Atlantic Coast Conference Championship on Saturday night at the Greensboro Aquatic Center.

Aranza Vazquez was named the meet's Most Valuable Diver for the second consecutive season. The senior defended her conference titles on the 1-meter and 3-meter springboards, also finishing fourth on platform.

The Tar Heel women finished fourth in the team standings with 786.5 points, the third year in a row the team has placed fourth. Virginia swam away with the team title with 1,637.5 points ahead of Louisville (1,145) and NC State (1,106). UNC outlasted Duke (fifth, 779.5).

On the men's side, Carolina placed eighth for the second straight season after tallying 616 points during the five-day competition. NC State claimed the men's title after accumulating 1,499.5 points, followed by Notre Dame (1,038.5) and Virginia Tech (960.5).

Swimming in her first ACC Championship A-final, Emma Karam placed eighth overall in the women's 200 backstroke with a time of 1:55.24 to get the night started. Her prelims time of 1:53.76 now ranks fifth all-time in program history.

Also with a finals appearance in the 200 backstroke was Ryan Silver on the men's side. He finished 24th in 1:45.50, slightly off his personal-record 1:44.64 morning swim.

Two Tar Heels in Georgia Nel (48.84) and Greer Pattison (49.35) earned a second swim in the women's 100 freestyle. Nel placed sixth in the B-final for 14th overall while Pattison got third in the C-final for a 19th-place showing.

Lexi Rudolph threw down a 2:09.70 to place second in the B-final – and 10th overall – in the women's 200 breaststroke. The senior's time was a personal record by just over a half-second and catapulted her up to second all-time in school history, only .10 off the school record.

Joining Rudolph in the B-final was Katja Pavicevic (2:10.27) and Skyler Smith (2:10.88) who earned respective finishes of 11th and 15th. Their times now rank fourth and sixth, respectively, in Carolina laurels.

Another Tar Heel in the 200 breaststroke finals, Samantha Armand stopped the clock in 2:12.88 in the C-final to garner an 18th-place showing.

Ben Delmar raced to eighth place in the A-final of the men's 200 breaststroke, getting his hands to the wall in 1:54.34 for a new personal record. The freshman's mark moved him up to third all-time in school history.

Racing in the early heats of the women's 1650 freestyle, Lily Reader's 16:27.62 ended up securing her a ninth place overall finish. It was an eight second personal best for the sophomore.

Now, the Tar Heel divers turn their attention to the NCAA Zone B Diving Championship from March 10-13 in Athens, Georgia. Select swimmers will race at the NCAA Championships later in March.