Tennessee Sweeps Duke in Dual Meet With Unusual Multi-Day Format
The Tennessee Volunteers wrapped up their dual-meet schedule with a two-day trip to Durham, N.C., to face the Duke Blue Devils in a two-day meet following the usual event lineup Friday before a sprint-focused meet Saturday. The Tennessee women, the fourth-place team at last year’s NCAA Championships, overcame Duke by a 145-131 margin while the Tennessee men won 198-82. Notably, several events were contested on both days of the meet.
Tennessee’s Julia Mrozinski swam a mark of 1:44.11 to win the 200 freestyle, and Camille Spink clocked 48.40 for the win in the 100 free. Josephine Fuller blasted the field in the 200 backstroke with a time of 1:51.88. Sophie Brison took first in the 500 free (4:50.27), and Brooklyn Douthwright pulled away for first place in the 100 butterfly (52.37) before tying teammate Emily Brown for first in the 200 IM, with both clocking 1:58.38.
The Tennessee team of Spink, Fuller, Mrozinski and Ella Jansen won the 400 free relay in 3:14.09 to wrap up Friday’s competition. Returning to Taishoff Aquatics Pavilion Saturday morning, Douthwright was victorious in the 200 free (1:45.07), and McKenzie Siroky came out on top of the 50 breaststroke, clocking 27.26 to beat out Duke’s Kaelyn Gridley (27.42) and Olympic-medal-winning teammate Mona McSharry (27.50).
Jansen was the winner of the 400 IM (4:10.37), followed by Fuller winning the 100 free (49.16) and Amber Myers taking the 100 back (54.60). Siroky’s second win of the day came in the 100 breast (59.05), followed by Jansen winning the 100 fly (53.65) and Brown coming home first in the 100 IM (54.99).
The meet began with an impressive Duke win in the 200 medley relay, with Ali Pfaff, Gridley, Kyanh Truong and Tatum Wall combining for a time of 1:35.41. Gridley split 26.57 on breaststroke, a bit quicker than Siroky’s 26.65, while Wall came home in 21.21 to hold off Spink (21.32). Pfaff was first in the 100 back (51.36), and Gridley swam a mark of 58.60 to win the 100 breast.
Gridley returned to win a high-profile head-to-head matchup in the 200 breast, clocking 2:06.10 to convincingly beat Siroky (2:07.60) and Mona (2:13.26). Wall won the 50 free (21.90), and Duke’s Audrey Portello captured first in the 1000 free (9:56.52), with Martina Peroni coming in first in the 200 fly (1:57.05). Margo Omeara finished first in 3-meter diving (369.08).
In Saturday action, Pfaff won the 50 back (24.72), and Truong topped the 50 fly (23.47). Wall again finished first in the 50 free (22.19) while Omerara won 1-meter diving (298.88) and the Blue Devil team of Wall, Truong, Pfaff and Clare Logan finished first in the 200 free relay (1:28.32).
The dominant meet for the Tennessee men began with Lamar Taylor, Kevin Houseman, Bjoern Kammann and Jordan Crooks winning the 200 medley relay in 1:24.85, with Crooks coming home in a swift 18.41 split. Crooks placed first in the individual 50 free in 19.02, and Kammann claimed an individual win in the 100 fly (46.88). Crooks completed his day by anchoring the Vols‘ 400 free relay to a win with his 41.60 split, joining teammates Taylor, Jack Flanagan and Joaquin Vargas for a time of 2:53.79.
Vargas won the 200 free (1:37.96), and Harrison Lierz got the job done in the 100 back (46.47). The 200 fly saw Martin Espernberger put on an impressive performance, clocking 1:42.52, and he returned to win the 500 free as well (4:27.12). Nikoli Blackman topped the 100 free (42.62), followed by Nick Simons dominating the 200 back (1:45.10) and Jed Garner coming in as the only sub-2:00 performer in the 200 breast (2:01.89). In diving, Bennett Greene won 1-meter (352.13), and Aidan Crisci was first in the 200 IM (1:48.61).
The next day, Tennessee continued its winning ways as Crooks continued to show off his speed. He won the 50 back in 21.11, and he swam the 50 free again, racing to a time of 18.74. And 18.43 split on the 200 free relay finished up his meet as Taylor, Pedro Samsone and Lierz combined for a 1:16.84 clocking.
Blackman posted the top time in the 200 free (1:36.97), followed by Houseman winning the 50 breast (24.63) and 100 breast (52.97) plus Gus Rothrock touching first in the 400 IM (3:49.44). Espernberger’s third win of the competition came in the 50 fly (21.53), and he clocked 47.24 to win the 100 fly. Ben Bricca placed atop the 100 free field (45.04), and Blackman won the final individual event of the meet, the 100 IM (48.94). Greene again won on the boards, scoring 397.95 on 3-meter.
On Friday, the Blue Devils’ Owen Markowitz was first in the 1000 free (9:27.52), and Kalen Anbar led the way in the 100 breast (54.87). The next day, Cameron Lai-Harris was first in the 100 back (47.90).