The Duke swim team enjoyed some southern hospitality this weekend as it traveled down to the College of Charleston and swept both the men's and women's meets.
The Blue Devil women won 160-80 on Sunday, while the men triumphed 160-83, as both squads raised their records to 1-1 after losses to Maryland in their opening meets.
In addition to the negative effects of a week of early-morning practices and a 6 a.m. departure time on Saturday, Duke had to deal with the College of Charleston pool. Most NCAA pools, including Duke's, are 25 yards, but Charleston's is 25 meters. But Blue Devil head coach Bob Thompson said the change might actually have helped his team.
"We kind of looked forward to the meet because we were not so focused on the clock," he said. "Usually your success is determined by how fast you race but it was fun for them to just race against the competition."
Thompson added that he was a little concerned going in about how his swimmers would finish their races in the longer pool, but was pleased that they swam smart and were able to come into the wall strong.
"I felt that at the end of the races we were a little fatigued because our bodies were accustomed to the shorter distances, but overall we did pretty well," men's senior tri-captain Doug Pierson said.
According to Thompson and the swimmers, Duke's depth this year led to the lopsided margin of victory Sunday.
"When I was a freshman, we had only one, maybe two swimmers per event," senior tri-captain Tim Wood said.. "This is the first time since I've been here that we've had four good swimmers in each event, and it really helps on the relays."
In particular, Thompson added, the Blue Devils have more depth in the freestyle events than last year, especially the sprints. Several freshmen have stepped up in these events, and Thompson said he was happy with the performance of Craig Macklin on Sunday, who had his first chance to swim the 200 freestyle. Macklin said that as the season progresses, he and the other freshmen are starting to adjust to the increased yardage in college, which can be twice as much as they did in high school.
Another freshman, breaststroker Megan Kavanaugh, added that the first away meet was a good experience for all the swimmers.
"We have a lot of team spirit," she said. "The road trip was good in that it brought us closer. We really came together as a team."
The Blue Devils travel to East Carolina on Sunday. Wood said that that meet, and the November 23 matchup against UNC-Wilmington, will be two of the most important of the season because if Duke wins both it will likely end the season with a winning record.
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