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8 CAVALIER CORNER cavalier sports T hird-year Tim Connery has found his stroke on the Virginia men's swimming and diving team after transferring from Texas and returning to his East Coast roots. One of the most versatile recruits out of high school and a dominant swimmer for the Longhorns, Connery adds depth to head coach Todd DeSorbo's roster. Connery arrived on Grounds with an im- pressive résumé. The Davidson, N.C., native helped Texas to a Big 12 title and a runner- up finish at the NCAA Championships. Not due to a lack of success in the pool, but Connery found reality did not match expec- tations. Making the move to Virginia was easy because he felt the school and the program checked all his boxes. "It means a lot to me being close to home and competing at the highest level with a group of guys that I love and for a group of coaches that I really trust in," Con- nery said. "The coaches are so energetic, they really care about us, and you can tell they spend a lot of time thinking how they can be better for us, which is really inspiring because it makes us want to give 110 per- cent of our effort for them." In his first season as a Cavalier, Con- nery immediately made an impact, helping the team to a 10th-place finish in the 400 medley relay at the 2023 NCAA Champi- onships. He opened that campaign with a sixth-place finish in the 100 butterfly against his old team. Later in the season, Connery swam the third leg of Virginia's silver medal-winning 400 medley relay team at the 2023 ACC Championships. "Being All-American and All-ACC are two things that when I started my college career, I said it would be really cool to be able to do, and being able to do it at a place like this has been a dream come true," Connery said. The transition academically to a new school may have proved easy for Con- nery, though he found the shift in training more challenging. Knowing the high-caliber athlete he had landed, DeSorbo modified Connery's training to incorporate more speed-based workouts. As a result, the All- American played a vital role in the Virginia men finishing fifth as a team at the 2024 ACC Championships. Connery broke the school record in the prelim of the 200 in- dividual medley, clocking 1:42.00 before going on to better the record by tapping the wall at 1:41.86 for the bronze medal. "We work so hard for that specific mo- ment," Connery said. "Those are the meets we sacrifice so much for every day of the year, and it's awesome being able to perform at that level and do it for a place like Virginia." He also contributed to two scoring relays, including a fourth-place finish in the 400 medley relay (3:03.78) and a sixth-place finish in the 200 medley relay (1:23.46). To top off the weekend, the third-year recorded a personal-best 46.14 in the backstroke prelims. Connery continues to dominate the pool in Charlottesville, owning two Virginia school records (100 butterfly and 400 medley relay) and etching his name in the record book in four other events. Connery swam his way onto the top-10 list in the 200 medley relay (third, 2:49.15), 100 freestyle (fifth, 42.50), 200 freestyle relay (fifth, 1:15.89) and 100 breaststroke (ninth, 52.95). — Jen Dietrich Connery, who was named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year in 2022, settled in during his first season with the Cavaliers. (Photo by Jamie Holt/courtesy UVA) getting to know Third-Year Swimmer Tim Connery Made Himself At Home In Charlottesville