The UVA men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams swept Pitt in their season opener Friday (Oct. 21) at the Aquatic and Fitness Center. The Cavalier women (1-0) were victorious, 187-108, while the UVA men won, 186.5-108.5. Overall, the Cavaliers touched first in 27 of the 28 swimming events.
“I am very pleased with the effort on both sides today,” UVA head coach Augie Busch said. “I would say the majority of our swims were lifetime [dual-meet] bests which is pretty awesome. Michigan and Penn State will present a much stiffer challengein two weeks and we must get back to work and clean up several details if we are going to be as competitive as we want to be.”
Senior Leah Smith (Pittsburgh, Pa.) highlighted the action, breaking two AFC pool records in her two individual events. Smith first broke the women’s 1,000-yard freestyle mark in 9:23.79, 10 seconds faster than her previous record. She followed that up with a new pool record in the 500 free in 4:39.25.
Junior Jennifer Marrkand (Westford, Mass.) finished first in three events, including the women’s 200 free (1:47.74), 200 backstroke (1:57.86) and 400 IM (4:17.29). Senior Austin Quinn (Chagrin Falls, Ohio) took first in the men’s 200 free (1:39.23) and 200 back (1:48.47).
The Cavaliers swept the breaststroke events with senior Laura Simon (Simmern, Germany) winning the women’s 100 (1:01.13) and 200 (2:13.14) and sophomore Alex Albracht (Mission Hills, Kan.) won the men’s 100 (56.60) and 200 (2:03.67).
Other multiple-event winners included senior Kaitlyn Jones (Newark, Del.) in the women’s 100 back (55.89) and 100 fly (54.28), senior Ellen Thomas (Guildford, United Kingdom) in the women’s 50 free (23.09) and 100 free (50.12), sophomore Zach Fong (Moorestown, N.J.) in the men’s 100 fly (48.35) and 200 fly (1:45.72), sophomore Sam Magnan (Bethlehem, Pa.) in the men’s 500 free (4:30.23) and the 1,000 free (9:14.60),
In the men’s 50 free, senior Matt Lockman (Charlottesville, Va.) was first in 20.45, while freshman John Whiteside (Fairfield, Conn.) touched first in the 100 free in 45.26. Sophomore Peyton Baldwin (Newport News, Va.) captured the women’s 200 fly in 2:02.28. Freshman Ted Schubert (Ashland, Va.) won the men’s 400 IM in the final individual event of the day in 3:55.54.
Virginia also won all four relays including the women’s 200 medley relay (1:40.25) and 200 free relay (1:33.08) and the men’s 200 medley relay (1:29.70) and 200 free relay (1:22.39).
In diving, freshman Bryce Shelton (Vienna, Va.) placed second on men’s 3-meter with a score of 380.32, third on UVA’s all-time list. Shelton was also second on 1-meter with a score of 329.70. On the women’s side, freshman Sydney Dusel (Naperville, Ill.) finished second on 1-meter with a score of 264.75 points, while sophomore Kylie Towbin (New Canaan, Conn.) was second on 3-meter with 282.15 points.
“I was really happy with the divers today,” UVA head diving coach Jason Glorius said. “The men were solid on both boards. The women, who are traditionally weaker on 1-meter, had a great 1-meter event, so that is encouraging. We did a nice job of focusing on the process so the results will be there when we need them to be.”
The Cavaliers return to action Nov. 4-5 when they host Michigan and Penn State in a two-day double-dual meet.
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