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That’s some of the yin and yang behind one of the best dynasties going in college sports. On Wednesday, the No. 1-ranked Wahoos will again have their dominance tested on the big stage with the start of the NCAA Championships at the McCauley Aquatic Center in Atlanta.

They’re going for a six-peat, something that’s never been done in their sport. In internal team messaging, DeSorbo has labeled this quest “Sixth Sense: Dynasty level intuition.”

“Basically,” DeSorbo said, “you know how to win.”

So, how have they reached this point of perceived invincibility? Aside from the annual stockpiling of elite talent – Olympic medal-winning alumni Kate Douglass, Gretchen and Alex Walsh among them – there’s a culture here that’s become magnetic.

UVA coach Todd DeSobro shows off his loud trunks as part of “Board Short Tuesday” at the Aquatic & Fitness Center. (Photo by Matt Riley, University Communications)

Aimee Canny, a senior and a star of this season’s team, is from South Africa and had never been to the United States until she arrived on Grounds. COVID-19 restrictions altered traditional recruiting, so instead of taking a visit to Charlottesville, her view into UVA was mostly through Zoom calls with members of the swimming program.

Nonetheless, Canny committed to the Cavaliers and a 16-hour plane ride from home.

At first, she was homesick. But now?

“It’s the opposite,” said Canny, a 10-time All-American and two-time Olympian. “When I go home, I get homesick from missing UVA.”

Why?

“Honestly,” Canny said, “it’s the people I’m surrounded by every day. I live with my best friends. We all live on my floor. It’s literally all swimmers above me. I will walk into anyone’s apartment and hang out. 

“Whatever we’re doing, we have a good time doing it.”

For more than half a decade, the Cavaliers’ favorite hobby has been winning. It seemingly never gets old as DeSorbo has continued to push the right motivational buttons at the right time.

While it’s not as outlandish as “Board Short Tuesday” – a tradition that DeSorbo dates more than 15 years ago to when he was living on the beach and assisting the University of North Carolina Wilmington swim team – another ritual has long helped spark the Wahoos.

In the days between the Atlantic Coast Conference and NCAA championship meets – often a span of at least three weeks – DeSorbo has each swimmer stand up and deliver a speech in front of their coaches and teammates to break up the monotony of practice. 

Wahoo swimmers Sara Curtis, Anna Moesch, Aimee Canny and Claire Curzan show off their gold medals after taking first place in the 400-meter freestyle relay at last month’s ACC Championship meet. The quartet broke an NCAA record in the race, previously set three years earlier by four other Cavaliers – Kate Douglass, Alex Walsh, Maxine Parker and Gretchen Walsh. (Virginia Athletics photo)

There’s no required time limit, nor is there an assigned discussion topic. But each one, DeSorbo said, typically starts with “how much they love each other and how much they love being a part of the team and being here.”

Over the years, the speeches have ranged from comical to emotional to downright passionate. Last year, then-junior Carly Novelline waited until the Cavaliers were on-site at the NCAA meet to deliver her fiery remarks.  

“It was like a coach in a football locker room before a big game,” DeSorbo recalled. “We left the meeting super amped up. Like, ‘Let’s go!’”

The Hoos then went out and won the title by a commanding 127 points over second-place Stanford University. 

As the possibility for another epic performance looms, Virginia’s swimmers have again staved off complacency. 

They say they’re ready for their shot at history. 

“Look, we’re confident,” Canny said, “and I’m more confident in my teammates than I ever have been before, because I’ve seen us in practice, I’ve seen us in meets.

“But we also know we start from zero. You go there, and it’s like, ‘OK, we still have a job to do. One day at a time.’”