Adding Cal and Stanford definitely made the conference a lot tougher. They were 1-2 in the men's and 2-3 in the women's overall standings. UVA won the women's title. They would place well in the Olympics if they were a country with their stacked women's team.

Moving from 12th to 9th is huge. Brendan won 100 free, and SO Eli Martin was 4th in 200 breast. They were 1-2 in point scored for VT. This ACC conference meet was absurdly fast. You know it's crazy when Torri Huske is second in 100 free (surely not tapered and maybe only a little rested). The depth that Uva has amassed is unreal. They lose three of the all time great swimmers in Kate Douglass and the Walsh sisters and backfill with even deeper talent. I'm surprised that Uva's "greatest men's recruiting class in history" didn't finish higher, but DeSorbo is the best coach in the country and will figure it out. As for VT, just need to keep recruiting. Eli Martin is found money. They need a lot more of that on both teams.

The addition of the California schools seems to have definitely toughened up the conference in swimming.

There are some pretty strong club polo teams in the ACC, including VT. In general, club polo is one of the stronger club sports in the country (along with swimming). Believe it or not, club programs do attract students from across the country. It's really a shame water polo is not bigger in the US. My son won 3 D2 Collegiate Water Polo Association titles when he was in college. It's a fast-paced game with a lot of scoring and very physical. I blame some of it on the insularity of the CA water polo mafia who don't want the sport to grow outside of CA.

International polo has been played at I think 30 or 35m for years but was recently reduced. My son played D2 polo, but divisions are far less relevant in NCAA polo. He played tournaments at Harvard, Bucknell, Brown, USNA, and others in 30 yard pools, but the norm was 25 yard pools including his home pool (Cathedral Prep in Erie). The important attribute of the pool is depth. We played in too many shallow/deep pools in college. The shallow end goal is bigger. Shallow end goalies can stand on the bottom, but field players can't. It makes for a weird game and is really hard on the players. I know the coaches at Salem University, and they actually recruited the women's soccer goalie to play shallow end goalie for them. My son was usually the best swimmer in the pool and loved playing the 30m pools because he would wear defenses out chasing him.

One swimmer to watch is SO Eli Martin. He's blowing up in the 100 breast, which was probably his 4th event (behind both IMs and 200 breast) cOne swimmer to watch is SO Eli Martin. He's blowing up in the 100 breast, which was probably his 4th event (behind both IMs and 200 breast) coming in as a FR. He swam a 51 earlier in the season and came into ACCs 16th in NCAA, I think. He dropped time this morning and could push to win it tonight.

Nice to see the younger men really stepping up. Need a big recrutiing year for the ladies.....lots of points graduating.

My kids swam in the talent rich Potomac Valley Swimming region of USA Swimming. There is absolutely so much female talent in the DMV, and none of it comes to VT. They had a teammate who I think was VT's 50 free record holder for a while and made an impact, but there really aren't any women coming to VT from the area. My daughter swam with so many talented women who went to Stanford, Princeton, Tennessee, UNC, Pitt, you name it, anywhere but VT. The three top men scorers right now are Brendan Whitfield, Eli Martin, and Landon Gentry. Martin and Gentry swam in PVS (AAC and Mako, I think).

He swam with my daughter. Janika Perezous is another PVS swimmer at VT but I can't remember who she swam for. It wasn't NCAP. PVS seems to send a lot of kids to NC State as well. My wife's team has sent quite a few.

Spent most of her life at AAC but switched to Capitol Sea Devils her Jr year and had a huge breakout after plateauing for years. She switched to Flanagan her senior year - best thing she ever did. He turned her into a Scholastic All American. Far better than her college coaches. My son swan for John the covid Summer then during Winter break and Summers. Also better than his college coaches. To be honest, both of my kids had much better club swimming and polo coaches than college.

I coached at the same site as Flanagan for years. Then became head coach at NCAP Loudoun.

Got a lot of Flanagan stories including when he took my son and a few others to swim in one of the Reston lakes during covid. He's out there in a rowboat, and I have video of my son doing fly in fins right behind him. Very thankful for all he did for both of them. If anything, giving my son that Summer after his SO year to train during covid was huge for his mental health. He went back to college a much better swimmer. Last day of Summer practice after the usual beatdown, John told Dave he'd give him $20 if he could swim a 1:55 200 fly unsuited. He dropped a 1:54, took the 20, and walked out the door. It was also a go home swim for the rest of the team. Good times during some really bad times.

Your kids were very fortunate. Flanagan is one of the very best to ever set foot on the pool deck. Should be in ISHOF in my opinion. Phenomenal coach and person. And you're right, the stories! He and I roomed together on virtually every travel meet so I've probably heard a majority of them. I retired in 2020 at age 65. He is still going strong at 80. Well, almost. He will turn 80 next month. One of the best!

He treated both of my kids so well. David had just lost his FR year college coach, and the replacement was not really what he needed. His relay had qualified for D2 NCAAs then got kneecapped during the meet. Then the came home, and he was really bummed. One of David's former teammates had gone to swim for John because he needed a distance coach. Dave and John hit it off immediately, and it really boosted David's career back. he came back every Summer and swam in his masters group. My daughter left another team for a combination of personal reasons and the fact that Wilson had closed and they were stuck outside. John really recognized her and the kid that brought Dave as hard workers and built that training group to push them, and he did. That kid made D2 NCAAs every year and was an AA. My daughter had a great year with John and made Scholastic AA in 400IM because John really cared about her and would work with her asthma and anxiety. My wife sees him on deck now and then and always gets a hug. You are truly fortunate to work with John. He's done so much for the swimming community and my family.

There are a lot more high lThere are a lot more high level opportunities in swimming for women, and even with roster limits, there are a lot of opportunities. I do think roster limits will help VT as SEC schools can't hoard massive, loaded rosters, and some of the talent will spread around betteThere are a lot more high lThere are a lot more high level opportunities in swimming for women, and even with roster limits, there are a lot of opportunities. I do think roster limits will help VT as SEC schools can't hoard massive, loaded rosters, and some of the talent will spread around better. The highest level talent in the DMC goes elsewhere. The elite girls my daughter swam with in the PVS went to Stanford (Torri Huske, Sophie Duncan), Tennessee (Camille Spink who just swam the #4 all time 100y free), McKenzie McConagha, Phoebe Bacon (Wisconsin), Eric Gemmell (Texas), Eleanor Sun (Princeton). I know that VT has a reputation as being difficult academically, and given the dedication required by swimming, that's a consideration. The off campus pool does not help. I know the coaching staff is top notch. it's just something they have not solved. It took a long time for Todd Desorbo to figure out men's recruiting at Uva.

given that all of the schools you listed the top NoVA kids going to are ranked higher (except Tennessee) academically than VT. VT has some very easy majors that a lot of the football and basketball kids do and seem to stay eligible with. I wonder if it is more that these kids are from affluent suburban families that are trying to optimize academic prestige (UVA, Princeton), which works against VT. VT is great at engineering and architecture, which probably don't draw a lot of female swimmers. In liberal arts, businesses, and sciences, we are at a disadvantage vs. those schools. VT has that same recruiting issue with lacrosse recruiting, where we are up against UVA, Duke, BC, and UNC for the suburban recruits who want strong academics.

My kids swam in the PVS all their lives, and my wife has been a coach and is the program director for a top club in the country. Most of the swimmers in the region are from (relatively) affluent and uptight white and Asian families. A lot of these swimmers are outstanding students as well with hard-driving families. I can recall many conversation with parents who were just going to die if their kids didn't swim at an Ivy or prestigious D3s like Emory or Case Western. This goes for other sports as well. I know several of my son's teammates used water polo to get into places like Harvey Mudd in CA). It's just a weird, hard-driving culture here with uptight parents and kids. Of my three kids, two left and will never come back here. The other enlisted in the USMC to get away from here but eventually came back for a job that is based in the area. My wife and I can't wait to retire and leave.