After spending four-and-a-half hours on a bus to arrive at a facility that bears a remarkable resemblance to a dungeon, the men's swimming and diving team finally got to enjoy its first win of the season over the weekend. In fact, they liked it so much they decided to make it a double. The swimmers swept through Old Dominion and Towson State at a tri-meet in Norfolk Saturday, defeating the Monarchs by a score of 132-100 and crushing the Tigers 153-77.
"It was definitely good to get some wins under our belt, since we've swum a pretty tough early-season schedule," senior captain Ryan Harsch said. "Our focus has been on the Nike Cup coming up next week, so we weren't as prepared as we could have been, but our team showed a lot of guts this weekend."
The men were led to victory by a freshman, Teddy Helfers, who swept Old Dominion and Towson to win close races in both distance events. Helfers finished first in the 1,000-yard freestyle with a time of 9:47.28, and captured the 500-yard freestyle in 4:45.57.
"I was really pleased with how everyone swam," Helfers said. "We just put in a hard week of training, and I think everyone needed a morale boost. I'm glad I was able to perform on Saturday to help contribute to these wins."
Senior captain Chris Fleizach emerged victorious from the 200-yard butterfly, winning with his time of 1:56.73. Junior Ryan Spoon once again won the 200-yard breaststroke, finishing first in 2:08.73.
"We competed very well, picking up a pair of wins despite less than ideal conditions," Spoon said. "Fliezach and Helfers really helped us pull out a victory against an Old Dominion team that's usually very competitive with us. I was very impressed with how they swam."
The women's sophomore class continued to display its talent, leading the team to victory over the Tigers. Lauren Cornet and Amy Halligan each recorded a win and a second-place finish in the meet.
Despite their efforts, the Blue Devils were unable to complete their come-from-behind win against the Lady Monarch's, losing by only two points after the end of the final relay.
"It was a thrilling meet through the last event with ODU," junior Kristina Koehler said. "Unfortunately we lost, but we still swam pretty well considering how hard we're training. Most of our focus is on next weekend's Nike Cup, and our preparation has left us very tired during the last week."
Cornet continued her winning streak in the 200-yard breaststroke, winning in a time of 2:20.25. She also finished second in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 24:75. Halligan won the 200-yard butterfly in 2:07.80 and touched second in the 200-yard IM (2:10.35) behind Sarah Mooney of Old Dominion.
"I was a little disappointed after finishing second in the 200 IM," Halligan said. "I knew how close the meet was though, and we desperately needed points to catch up. I gave an all out effort in the fly and was able to win the event to even out the score, but unfortunately we came up short in the end."
The men's double win and the women's split have together left both teams with an identical 2-4 record. The swimmers will spend the rest of this week preparing for the NCAA Nike Cup Invitational in Chapel Hill November 15-17, in which they hope to improve on last year's fifth-place finishes.
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