The men's and women's swimming and diving team (5-5) finished off their home season in style Saturday, as the Blue Devils decisively defeated the College of Charleston Cougars (3-7, 3-12). The Duke men earned a 133-78 victory, while the women won by a 160-73 margin. The Blue Devils drew their largest crowd of the year on Senior Day, and those who attended did not go home disappointed--Duke only failed to win one event the entire afternoon.
"All of our seniors performed really well," Duke assistant coach Lynzee Sharp said. "They had high hopes, high spirits, and they were just really excited, so they all swam well."
Seniors Katie Fay and Amy Halligan both came away with wins in their final appearance at the Taishoff Aquatics Pavilion. Fay and Halligan won the 200 backstroke and 100 freestyle, respectively, much to the delight of the well-wishers who had gathered to witness their final dual meet.
"It was pretty emotional for me," fellow senior Lauren Handcock said, "It was nice to have most of the seniors' parents here and have all our friends come and watch us swim. It was a really exciting meet--even though we won almost every event, it was still fun to watch people swim and seeing Katie Fay and Amy Halligan go out on top in their last college dual meet."
For some seniors, the emotion of Senior Day proved to be overwhelming.
"I got really emotional, and I wasn't really expecting that, it kind of caught me off guard," senior Trevor Yates said. "I think it actually had an adverse effect on my first race because I think I still had tears in my eyes."
For most seniors, however, the thrill of the moment contributed a very positive effect. In the case of senior diver Jeanne DeWitt, it motivated her to post a career best--a score of 254.48 in the 3-meter dive event.
"Jeanne DeWitt was on fire today," diving coach Andy Scott said. "I told her that she had worked very hard all year, and she deserved to dive well. She did, and it was the best meet of her career by far....If I knew she was going to dive this well on Senior Day, I would have told her every day was Senior Day."
Many Duke swimmers swam events in which they would normally not compete, and in some cases it produced surprising effects.
"We didn't want to kill them; we mixed up the lineup just to get our kids into events they usually don't swim," Sharp said. "One of the highlights was Jason MacAfferty in the 200 back. He had never swum the 200 back before, but he wound up winning the race."
Saturday's meet came right in the middle of the Blue Devils' taper period, when the swimmer will begin to rest in preparation for the ACC championships. Most Duke swimmers felt that the team will be in prime condition for the ACC's, which will begin Wednesday for the Blue Devil women.
"I think we're exactly where we should be," said Yates. "This is an awkward time for a meet, because we're just starting our taper period, so we're doing some things in practice that our bodies aren't used to, and it takes a little while to adjust. But we're right on track for the end of our season."
What exactly can Duke fans expect over the next two weeks?
"A lot of fast times," said Yates.
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