Three years later, a very different scene for swimming and diving

The last time Annie Fittin and the Terrapin women's swimming and diving team traveled to the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center, the New Jersey native was still a freshman on a largely inexperienced and unimpressive squad.

Led by then-interim coach Jarod Schroeder, the Terps finished ninth out of 11 teams at the ACC Championships.

When Sean Schimmel took command of the Terp swimming and diving programs the next year, the move paid immediate dividends. The women's team leapfrogged into fifth place in 2008 and finished fourth in a talented ACC last season.

Today, a dramatically different side bolstered by Fittin's leadership will step on the blocks in its first full day of action in the ACC Championships as 19 swimmers and divers compete for the Terps.

"I think the women are extremely excited," Schimmel said. "They have been for the last couple weeks. It kind of comes with the territory. ACCs and NCAAs are our focus, so as we gear up for that they get pretty excited."

For Fittin, the opportunity to again compete at Georgia Tech, which houses one of only two Olympic swimming venues in use nationwide, provides an ideal opportunity to test her skills against some of the most talented swimmers in the nation.

This year, though, she believes the team is prepared to battle for a top-three finish in the league.

"We have a completely different dynamic," Fittin said of the contrast between teams. "Going into ACCs, things are more organized and laid out. We know exactly where we're going to be at what times. Our mindset going into the meet is completely different. ... We only lost two dual-meets, and our freshman year we lost a few more."

While wins and losses generally are not the most tangible measure of success in swimming, the progress the Terps have made is undeniable. A comparison of the 3-5 record the squad posted three years ago with its 9-2 mark in dual-meets this year is proof enough.

"We've made some definite strides in the last three years. When I came, in we had some standards, and people were held to that," Schimmel said. "Leaders like Annie did a good job of holding herself accountable first of all. I think leading by example, she helped raise some other people's bar and other people's standards in terms of how they were doing things as well."

The quartet of Ginny Glover, Blair Cross, Fittin and Megan Lafferty has the fastest seed time in the ACC in the 200 free relay (1:31.02), a strong race for the Terps and one Fittin hopes will qualify for NCAAs.

Lafferty and Fittin, who have trained in the same group for the past two years and are rooming together in Atlanta, swam against each other in several incredibly close races in the 50 and 100 free this year. They will likely clash again in the short sprint races this week, as Fittin received the No. 3 seed (22.65) and Lafferty the No. 6 seed (22.74) in the 50 free.

The gap narrows for the 100 free seeding, where only three-hundredths of a second separate the sophomore and senior.

"She's definitely a huge leader on the team, in and out of the pool," Lafferty said of Fittin. "She is one of those people on the team, who, yeah, she does amazingly in the pool, but she also always cares about how everyone swims, and that's always nice to know that there's someone on the sideline cheering for you."

Though Saturday will mark the last day of competition in the ACC Championships for Annie, there are many more in the near future for the family. Peter, a freshman freestyle sprinter on the men's team, likely will head down to Atlanta next week.

Another Fittin also will call College Park home next year. Carolyn, a highly ranked senior who attends the Peddie School in New Jersey, has already signed her letter of intent to swim for Schimmel.

"Annie always had great things to say about the school, and she loved it, so I just heard a lot of positive things coming from there," Carolyn said in a phone interview. "And then me and my brother and sister are really close also, so that really influenced my decision to be with them."

Annie, an elementary education major, will remain in College Park next year as she student-teaches and trains for the 2012 Olympic trials, her final goal for swimming.

"We'd probably be all in the same group, too," she said of her siblings. "It's funny when I swim with my brother and then when I think about having my sister there as well; it'd be a kind of funny dynamic, all three of us together."

But for now, the event that's been circled in permanent ink on the season schedule since it was released remains the team's focus.

"Hopefully, we're going to be in positions where the women this week have to come together and rise above like they did last year," Schimmel said. "And it's those little situations, those little spots of competitiveness, that I really look forward to and see what we're all about."

castello@umdbk.com