Duke Swim and Dive Teams Split With Harvard, South Carolina on Senior Day

Photo Credit: Duke Athletics

DURHAM – The Duke swim and dive teams split their final home dual meet of the season on Saturday afternoon, as the Blue Devil women downed Harvard (154-146) and South Carolina (165-135) and the men fell to both Harvard (199-95) and South Carolina (158-136). Four pool records fell during the meet, in both 200 medley relays, the women’s 100 backstroke and the men’s 200 breaststroke.

Duke Press Release

The Duke women turned in a solid performance wire-to-wire to top Harvard and South Carolina Saturday afternoon in the final home meet of the regular season. The Blue Devils edged the Crimson by a score of 154-146 in the first meeting between the two programs, and defeated an SEC opponent for the first time since 2011 with a 165-135 victory over the Gamecock women, improving to 7-1 on the year.

Duke’s men kept it close with South Carolina but ultimately fell by a 158-136 score. The men also surrendered a dual meet loss to 19th-ranked Harvard, 199-95, moving their season ledger to 4-4.

“The women did a phenomenal job right out of the gates,” said head coach Dan Colella. “We did get a little bit relaxed in the middle, but as soon as we had a little talk about it, they once again started to apply the pressure and were able to finish it off for two big wins … We knew going in on the men’s side, particularly with Harvard, that they were going to be stacked. We’re always looking to learning from the experience and I think we’ll do that, but I’m very proud of their performances.”

The Blue Devil swimmers started off the meet with a pair of pool records, claiming first in both 200-yard medley relays. The men’s team of sophomore Kaz Takabayashi, sophomore Peter Kropp, junior David Armstrong and sophomore James Peek posted the eighth-fastest mark in program history with a 1:29.08 showing, followed by sophomore Bradley Cline, sophomore Dylan Payne, junior Kenny Ng and senior Stefan Knight in second (1:31.70). Sophomore Jessie Sutherland, sophomore Ashleigh Shanley, freshman Leah Goldman and sophomore Maddie Rusch surpassed the previous Taishoff record on the women’s side with a time of 1:42.12.

Freshman MaryEllen Targonski led the women’s divers in picking up key points on the boards, placing fourth on the 1-meter board and sixth in the 3-meter competition. The rookie edged all Harvard women on the 1-meter with her award of 269.70, followed by sophomore Kirby Quinn, who posted a score of 265.80.

“The women are doing really well, coming off of a little bit of a break at the holidays,” said head diving coach Nunzio Esposto. “Considering this is the first meet of this part of the season, I think they did a good job.”

Sutherland broke a third facility record in the women’s 100 backstroke, tapping the wall at 54.98 for a first-place showing. Rookies Goldman and Isabella Paez also paced the women early on, with Goldman posting the ninth-fastest 200 freestyle clocking all-time at Duke (1:50.69). Paez joined her in earning a first-place finish, winning the 200 butterfly at 2:00.24. That performance led off a one-two-three finish for the Blue Devil women, as sophomores Brittany Friese (2:04.13) and Colleen Wixted (2:05.21) were just behind.

Rusch added a victory in the 50 freestyle, clocking 23.34, while Goldman was second at the 100-yard distance in 51.45. Both Paez and Goldman returned to the water to notch critical first-place finishes down the stretch, winning the 100 butterfly and the 200 individual medley, respectively. Junior Linsay Cooper came in second just behind Paez in the 100 butterfly and then led off Duke’s 400 freestyle relay, which took second to secure the dual meet victories.

On the men’s side, Kropp successfully defended his home pool in the 100 breaststroke, edging the field with a time of 55.23. Takabayshi was second in the 100 backstroke (49.84), as was junior Kenny Ng in an exciting 200 butterfly heat. Peek took second and third, respectively, in the 50 and 100-yard races, while freshman Matt Johnson led the distance group with a fourth-place showing in the 1,000 freestyle. His mark of 9:32.44 was good for the sixth-best all-time at Duke.

Up next, Duke resumes ACC competition Saturday, Jan. 17 in a dual meet at Georgia Tech.

Harvard Men’s Press Release

Behind eight overall wins, the Harvard men’s swimming and diving team, ranked No. 19 by the CSCAA, took care of a pair of nonconference opponents in Duke and South Carolina on Saturday. The Crimson (5-0, 3-0 Ivy) downed the host Blue Devils, 199-95, and the Gamecocks, 180-120, in a tri-meet on the road.

Sophomore Jack Manchester took home two first place finishes on the day, sweeping the 100 and 200 backstroke events handily. Manchester (49.50) finished just ahead of teammate Koya Osada (49.85) and Steven Tan (50.47) in the 100, while heading up a 1-2-3 finish in the 200. Manchester took the even in 1:46.89, ahead of Osada (1:47.78) and Christian Yeager (1:50.14) for the sweep. The sophomore also took fourth place in the 200 IM, just behind Osada in second.

Senior co-captain Griffin Schumacher also took home two first place standings, earning wins in the 50 free and the 100 free. Schumacher edged out teammates Paul O’Hara and Ed Kim, fourth and fifth, respectively, in the speedy 50, before earning a win by .32 over Spenser Goodman in the 100.

Four other Crimson took first place in six different events as well, including Goodman’s top finish in the 200 free. Goodman put together a strong race, touching the wall in 1:39.57, ahead of Aly Abdel Khalik in fourth, Zachary Walters in fifth and Jack Boyd in eighth.

Christian Carbone kept up the pace in the 200 fly, clocking in at 1:50.31 for another top finish. Leo Lim followed up with a third place finish in the event, just over a second behind his teammate, followed by Max Yakubovich in fifth and Jacob Luna in sixth.

On the boards, Mike Mosca finished above everyone on the 3-meter boards, compiling a score of 369.45 to earn the win. Freshmen David Pfeifer and Bobby Ross took fourth and fifth place as well in the event. Mosca, however, was edged on 1-meter by South Carolina’s Cole Miller, who took first. Mosca’s 313.25 earned him a third place finish, just ahead of Pfeifer and Ross in fourth and fifth once again.

Steven Tan continued Harvard’s success with his victory in the 100 fly. Tan finished head of Yakubovich and Luna with his 48.73 mark. In the meet’s final event, the Crimson closed out Saturday with a dominating win in the 400 free relay. O’Hara, Shane McNamara, Ed Kim and Goodman combined to take the event in 3:02.62 to secure the tri-meet victory.

The Crimson treks on back into Ancient Eight meets with a visit to Providence, Rhode Island, for a date with Brown and Penn on Saturday.

South Carolina Press Release

The South Carolina swimming and diving team earned a split decision with Duke as the men defeated the Blue Devils 158-136 and the women fell 165-135. Harvard edged out both the Gamecock men and women with scores of 180-120 and 154-146, respectively. The men’s squad improved to 4-3 while the women are now 5-4.

South Carolina’s men and women opened the meet with a fourth-place results in the 200 medley relay. Juniors Ashleigh Ferguson and Ellen Johnson along with freshmen Heather Merritt and Meredith Vay clocked in at 1:46.32 for the women, while seniors Michael Covert and Jared Kauffman teamed up with freshmen Nils Wich-Glasen and Patrick McCrillis to finish in 1:32.82 for the men.

The Gamecocks swept the men’s distance events, claiming first through third in the 500 and 1,000 freestyle. Freshman A. Akram Mahmoud earned his first collegiate win in the 1,000 freeestlye with a time of 9:13.50. Tomas Peribonio finished just behind Mahmoud in 9:13.63 to take second place and Travis Morrin finished third. In the 500 freestyle, junior Marwan El Kamash touched the wall first with a time of 4:30.12, followed by Mahmoud (4:30.68) and Peribonio (4:32.40). On the women’s side, senior Victoria Mitchell led the Gamecocks, taking first place in both 500 and 1,000 freestyle. Freshman Sarah Smith finished second in the 500 freestyle with a time of 4:56.63, just one second shy of her personal record.

Vay recorded a trio of top-five finishes, as she placed second in the 200 freestyle, third in the 100 freestyle and fourth in the 50 freestyle. El Kamash (200 freestyle) and Kevin Leihtold (100 butterfly) added a pair of second-place finishes. Leithold missed his season best time by less than one second.

Wich-Glasen tallied two wins, finishing first in the 200 breaststroke (1:58.91) and 200 IM (1:50.88). His NCAA B cut time in the 200 breaststroke broke the facility record at Taishoff Aquatic Pavilion.

Both the men and women concluded the meet with a third-place finish in the 400 freestyle relay.

In the diving well, the Gamecocks swept the women’s one-meter competition as Patricia Kranz, Lauren Lamendola and Julia Vincent finished first through third, respectively. Lamendola took first place on the three-meter springboard while Vincent secured second place. Senior Cole Miller added a win for South Carolina on the one-meter springboard and finished second on the three-meter. Sophomore Jordan Gotro had a pair of top-three finishes, taking second on the one-meter and third on the three-meter.

NOTABLES
Men
• A. Akram Mahmoud (9:13.50) and Tomas Peribonio (9:13.63) set personal records in the 1,000 freestyle and their times rank third and fourth in school history, respectively.
• Nils Wich-Glasen tallied his sixth win in the 200 breaststroke this season.
• Wich-Glasen broke the facility record at Taishoff Aquatic Pavilion with his time of 1:58.91 in the 200 breaststroke.
• Cole Miller tallied his third win on the one-meter springboard this season with a score of 344.00.
• Jordan Gotro’s score of 340.55 on the one-meter is a season best.
Women
• Megan Carlson posted a season-best time in the 200 backstroke (2:03.23).
• Ashleigh Ferguson recorded a personal record in the 100 freestyle with her 53.38 split in the 400 freestyle relay.
• Lauren Lamendola earned her second win this season on the three-meter springboard with a score of 329.70.
• Patricia Kranz tallied her fifth win on the one-meter this season.

QUOTABLE
Head swimming coach McGee Moody
“Obviously we were hoping for better results. Going 1-3 was not what we wanted but I thought we had some good races. Tomas Peribonio and A. Akram Mahmoud had great performances in the 1000 and 500 freestyles, as did Marwan El Kamash in the 500. Victoria Mitchell had a great race in the 1000 freestyle. Megan Carlson and Annika Jonsson had a really tough back-to-back at the end of the meet racing in the 200 IM and then the 400 freestyle relay. We had great energy at the end but it wasn’t where it needed to be at the beginning. We’ll regroup and get ready for Missouri next weekend.”

UP NEXT
South Carolina returns home for conference action against Missouri on Jan. 17.

Results: Harvard, South Carolina vs. Duke

Name*

Email*

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use