Close counts in horseshoes, but not swimming. The men's swim team gave the University of North Carolina-Wilmington a good run for its money on Saturday at the Duke Aquatic Center. But it was not enough.
The men lost to the Seahawks 124-119. The women's team was defeated by a larger margin, 159-84.
The final scores were a bit deceiving, however, as almost every race came down to the wire. The Blue Devils got out-touched consistently, losing a majority of those close finishes.
"They were just finishing better," head coach Bob Thompson said. "But we still swam really well."
The meet started out with two impressive performances by senior Thayer Thompson and sophomore Paul Bamert in the 200-yard freestyle. They finished second and third, respectively, in an exciting finish.
Freshman Sean Feeney placed third in the 1,000-yard freestyle with a time of 10:02.79. Teammate Chris Wise, who is also a freshman, won the event in 9:54.52.
Freshman Marc Rotblat won the 200-yard breaststroke in a time of 2:12.99.
"I really wanted to drop my time, and I did," Rotblat said. "I am happy with [how I swam] and with how the team swam."
Senior diver Peter Mackrill proved to be an asset to the men's team with his two wins. Mackrill triumphed in the one-meter and three-meter diving competitions.
It was a close meet coming into the final event, the 400-yard freestyle relay. Bamert, Thompson, Phil Borden, and James Martens won the freestyle relay. But it was not enough for the win in the meet as the men succumbed by five points.
The women's team swam well individually, but lost to the Seahawks at the end of most races. UNC-W's swimmers often came from behind in the last yards to steal races from the Blue Devils. The result was a lopsided women's loss.
"The meet was a lot closer than the score," Thompson said after the meet.
Despite the loss, many of the Blue Devils had noteworthy swims. Junior Ellen Gawalt swam a 2:13.35 in her 200-yard backstroke, a season best. Junior Kristen Sosinski also had a season-best time in the 1,000-yard freestyle.
Sue Kresel, Leslie King, Molly Brown and Kristin Gardner were all second-place finishers in close races. Junior Whitney Greene swam better than she has all season in the 50-yard freestyle. She placed sixth in a time of 26.24.
"We knew we were a little light," Thompson said. "We knew we had to win a couple of events and rely on [sweeping second through fourth places] in the rest. The first part of the meet went really well. But we expected to win more of the events in the second half."
All in all, Thompson was pleased with the results of the meet.
"A lot of our best times from this season are going to come from this meet," Thompson said.
Both teams will be training at Duke over Thanksgiving break. After the meet, Thompson told the swimmers, "Thanksgiving training starts at 4 p.m. Monday afternoon. Be ready."
This extra training should come in handy when the teams compete in its next meet on Dec. 6 against the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.
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