FEDERAL WAY, Wash. – The Virginia men’s swimming team was off to a solid start Thursday at the 2008 NCAA Championships, thanks to a fourth-place finish in the 500 free by first-year Matt McLean. McLean swam a time of 4:14.10, a new ACC record, in the event to earn first-team All-America honors and earned 15 points for the Orange and Blue after day one. The event is being held at the King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way, Wash., and runs through Saturday.

Arizona leads the field with 137 points while Texas (116) is second and California (112) is third. The Cavaliers are currently in 18th place.

McLean, the 2008 Swimmer of the Championships at the annual Atlantic Coast Conference meet, bested his prelim time by more than two seconds after swimming a mark of 4:16.27 earlier in the day. In the finals, McLean also broke the conference record of 4:15.91 that he set at the ACC Championships last month. Meanwhile, classmate Taylor Smith finished in 20th place in the event after swimming a time of 4:20.72 and John Snawerdt was 28th, touching at 4:22.51.

In the 200 individual medley, John Azar and Pat Reams placed 32nd and 33rd, respectively. Azar finished in 1:47.42 and Reams was right behind him, touching at 1:47.57 in the prelims.

Virginia started the day with a 19th-place finish in the 200 freestyle relay. The team of Scot Robison, Lee Robertson, Azar and Byran Stahl teamed up to finish with a time of 1:20.01.

Stahl also broke the school record in the 100 back during the prelims of the 400 medley relay. Stahl recorded a time of 47.91 with his lead-off split, which also marked the third-fastest time ever in the ACC.

Day two of the NCAA Championships continues Friday with the 200 medley relay, 400 IM, 100 fly, 200 free, 100 breast, 100 back, 3-meter diving and 800 free relay events. Live results are available online at www.ncaaswim.com.