The Blue Devil swimmers ended their seasons on a high note Wednesday night at an away meet against Davidson. The men's and women's teams dominated the Wildcats, winning the majority of the events.
Duke took a commanding lead right away and never looked back. The men's and women's teams placed first and second in the first event, the 400-yard Individual Medley relay. The women won all but one event, the 200 backstroke.
The impressive wins didn't stem from outstanding performances by the swimmers, though. The meet Wednesday night was the third in six days for the athletes.
"We swam pretty well against Virginia, not quite as well against the College of Charleston and we were just God awful [Wednesday] night," head coach Bob Thompson said.
A handful of the swimmers made the two-hour bus ride worth their while. Freshman Rob Nikander came home with his first win of the dual-meet season in the 50-yard freestyle. Sophomore Erin Amweg swam a 2:35 in the 200 breastroke, just one second off her all-time best performance in the event. Thompson also said freshman Chris Wise had excellent swims in the 200 butterfly, 500 freestyle and 1,000-yard freestyle.
Although the dual meet season is over, the Blue Devil teams will not be idle for long. The Atlantic Coast Conference championships begin for the women on Thursday, Feb. 1. The men will compete the following week. Both tournaments are held at UNC.
Last year at the ACC meet, senior Heather Reger placed second in the 100 breastroke and earned the honor of being an All-conference swimmer. Thompson is excited to see what Reger can do this year and is looking for a finalist in senior Molly Brown as well.
"We are ready," Thompson said. "This is the most consistent training we have had in seven years."
Thompson said he is unconcerned with how the team places at the ACCs.
"We swim against ourselves," Thompson said. "We can't control what everyone else does. It doesn't matter. We want the kids to focus on what really matters."
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