The men's and women's swim teams both dropped their fourth meet in a row on Saturday, losing to UNC-Wilmington. The Seahawks won 17 of 26 events to defeat the Duke men, 135.5-115.5, and the women, 144.5-86.5.
The Blue Devils faced not only tough competition but an unexpectedly pro-UNC-W crowd at the Aquatic Center. Many of the visitors' fans, decked out in matching Seahawk t-shirts, had made the trip from Wilmington.
"They approach it as a gigantic meet," Duke coach Bob Thompson said. "It's their opportunity to swim against the ACC, and be competitive and they get all into that."
Although the Seahawks' spirit and talent were enough to defeat the Blue Devils, Duke had several bright spots in the competition. The men swept the 50-meter freestyle behind sophomore Brendan McGill. McGill's time of 22.39 seconds narrowly defeated junior Mark Rotblat and freshman Jack Newhouse, who tied for second place, and Evan Williams, who notched the fourth-place spot.
The Blue Devils also dominated the 100 free event, with freshmen Matt Lynch and McGill going 1-2.
"For the first time this year, I think the sprint freestyle has really stepped up and taken control of the meet," Lynch said. "This is the first opportunity we really had to be really competitive."
The men's relay events held some disappointment for the Blue Devils. Duke's relay of McGill, senior Paul Bamert, Newhouse and Preston notched a first-place finish in the 400 free relay. But in the 400 medley relay, the Blue Devils came in first but were disqualified due to an early start on the third leg.
On the women's side, Duke again had to be satisfied with wins from only a few swimmers. Sophomore Catherine Preston outlasted her Seahawk opponents to win the 1000 free, while placing third in the 500.
Junior Jill Spitzfaden had what Thompson termed "an amazing meet," winning the 500 free and missing a victory in the 200 by only .3 seconds.
Perhaps the women's brightest star was junior transfer Amy Armond. Armond won both the 200 individual medley and 200 free events by more than a second-and-a-half.
Duke now has just one meet left to close out the semester, against East Carolina on Dec. 6.
"[It] should be another good close meet," Preston said. "They match up very well with us and give us a good run. If we race like we did today, we should have a very good meet."
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