Sofia Johansson Wins Title at ACC Championships
Feb. 18, 2011
Complete Day Three Results | Complete Day Three Results (PDF) 
Atlanta, Ga. – University of Miami sophomore swimmer Sofia Johansson collected the first-ever individual ACC swimming title by a Hurricane winning the 100-yard breaststroke in a school record time of 1:00.85 on Friday evening inside the Georgia Tech Aquatics Center during the Atlantic Coast Conference Championships.
With several of the league’s coaches saying the Georgia Tech Aquatics Center is the fastest pool in the league, the sayings held true once again on Friday. Several ACC records and school records were set by numerous individuals.
Johansson, a star-studded recruit for fifth-year UM swimming head coach Christie Shefchunas last season, continues to be all she was said to be last season by Shefchunas. For Johansson, the time was her first school record performance, and her second individual NCAA “B” qualifying mark – also doing so last season in Chapel Hill, N.C.
“I couldn’t be prouder of the ladies than I am right now,” said Shefchunas of the team’s effort Friday. “It was a beautiful night!”
Miami had several other highlights on the day in the swimming lanes, including senior Annika Saarnak taking a second place finish in the 100 butterfly in a school record mark of 52.78 – an NCAA “B” cut time. In the process, Saarnak breaks her own school record time which she set earlier this season at the Georgia Tech Fall Invitational, also housed at the Georgia Tech Aquatics Center.
Dana Hatic (1:02.07) and Christine Anderson (1:02.97) each registered NCAA provisional qualifying marks for the `Canes in the 100-yard breaststroke.
The `Canes ended the night with a fourth place time in the 400 medley relay with a mark of 3:39.28 – earning not only an NCAA “B” cut, but also setting a new school record. Like three previous school records set this week at the ACC Championships, the previous record was recorded this season at Georgia Tech. The team on Friday was the exact same as before (in order) with Whitney Stephenson (leadoff), Sofia Johansson (second) Annika Saarnak (third) and Kelsi Hall (anchor).
In the diving well, Carrie Dragland took a podium finish in second place with a score of 377.05 in the finals of the 3-meter springboard. Teammate Lindsay Lester took fifth place with a score of 313.80 for diving coach Randy Ableman.
The top-three finishers in each event and the winning relay team collected All-ACC accolades with their victories.
Championship action continues Saturday at 11 a.m. with preliminaries in the 200-yard backstroke, 100-yard freestyle, 200-yard breaststroke and 200-yard butterfly. Finals in those events, along with the 400-yard freestyle relay, will begin at 7 p.m. Women’s platform diving preliminaries begin at 1 p.m., with the finals following immediately after. Three heats of the 1650-yard freestyle are scheduled for 4 p.m. Men’s platform diving preliminaries also start at 4 p.m., with the finals in the evening.
Live coverage of the final day of competition is available on the ACC Network on theACC.com Saturday beginning at 7 p.m. Fans can also follow all of the 2011 Men’s and Women’s Swimming & Diving Championships action on the official championship website, http://www.theacc.com/championships/11-swimming-diving-championship.html.
For more information on the University of Miami swimming & diving team, please log on to HurricaneSports.com. Once there, you will find up-to-date news, stats and information regarding the Hurricanes swimming & diving program.
You can keep up-to-date with all UM Athletics via twitter at Twitter.com/HurricaneSports. You can also become a fan of the `Canes on Facebook at Facebook.com/MiamiHurricanes.
