In the middle two weeks of February, the Terrapin men’s and women’s swimming teams will have to be at their best at the ACC Championships.

Everything the teams do throughout their meet season is geared toward peaking for these events.

The last competitive swimming before the ACC Championship occurs tomorrow at Virginia, and coach Dave Durden said that while the outcome is of little concern to his team, there’s still fine-tuning to be done to get his swimmers ready.

“There’s always things to improve and always things for them to work on,” he said. “We’re looking to really focus in on our events for ACCs. That may mean we stay away from some events for some folks, or that may mean we attack in our primary events.”

One goal for the weekend, according to Durden, is to get the women’s 200-yard medley and men’s 200-yard freestyle relays qualified for the championship heat at ACC championships, which means that the Terps have to register one of the top six times in the league.

Senior Danny Gray, who will be a part of the 200-yard freestyle relay, said his experience is a big help at this time of year.

“I know what to expect,” he said. “I know how to head into a three-day meet and know how I’m going to feel each day, and a lot of the younger guys don’t understand that.”

He said he will use this weekend to practice his turns and work on achieving the level of perfection necessary at ACC championships.

On the other hand, freshman Andrea Lehner is experiencing a collegiate championship season for the first time. She said that the reduction in workout distances, or tapering, which started this week, has her feeling good.

“Basically, this weekend I’m going to try to relax a little and not try to do too much activity, so I don’t get tired,” she said. “I feel like I’m pretty close to where I need to be. I just need a little more rest. At the end of this week, I should be feeling like I should be.”

Durden is upbeat about his team’s progress and said the Terps are faster and healthier than they have been at any point this year.

“It’s a feel-good time of the year,” he said. “We can see their energy levels are up, which is good. Their confidence levels are coming up, and that’s good. We’re really bringing it together at the right time, which is the goal that any sport has. You want to be peaking at your championship time.”

Contact reporter Eric Detweiler at edetweilerdbk@gmail.com.