The Washington University swimming and diving team split a dual meet against Division I rival St. Louis University over the weekend. The men defeated the Billikens 122.5-100.5 while the women lost to SLU 163-83.
The men, who placed 13th at the 2008 NCAA Divisional III Swimming and Diving Championships last year, recorded nine first place finishes in 11 races. Junior Alex Beyer took the 500- and 1,000-yard freestyle and teamed up with freshman Billy Griffitts, junior Dan Arteaga and freshman Neil O’Kelly in the 200-yard medley relay. Arteaga also won the 100-yard butterfly.
Like Beyer, sophomore David Chao won three events, taking the 100- and 200-yard freestyle and the 200-yard freestyle with O’Kelly and seniors Kevin Leckey and Charles Stewart. Leckey won the 50-yard freestyle, and senior Michael Flanagan took the 200-yard IM to round of the top finishes for the men.
“We swam well, all things considered. We didn’t have the pool for Wednesday and Thursday, so we were out of the water…to come in and win nine of the 12 events against a D-I program is pretty impressive, so we were pretty pleased with that,” Stewart, a co-captain, said.
The women won four events Saturday, all in freestyle events. Senior Kelly Kono won the 500-yard freestyle and the 200-yard freestyle relay with freshmen Karina Stridh, Samantha Schulte and Amy Vanlishout. Vanlishout and Stridh also won the 1,000- and 50-yard freestyle events, respectively.
The 200-yard women’s freestyle relay came down to the wire as Wash. U. beat SLU by .02 seconds. Stridh edged out SLU’s Jordan Hagar by .04 seconds in the 50-yard freestyle.
“I was really excited to see their enthusiasm,” Kono, a co-captain, said of the freshmen on her relay team. “It was good to get the first one under our belts. It was a good way to see how far we got and how far we have to go to get to our end of the season goals.”
As Saturday was the first meet of the season, Stewart explained that some swimmers, especially the freshmen, might have been frustrated with their slower-than-normal times. He explained that most swimmers will not record their best times until around December, after several months of training. The team also lifted weights the day before competition, a major difference from high school competition.
“The meets during the middle of the season are not about times. They’re about emotion and how hard you compete when you are tired and sore,” Stewart said.
The team will next compete at the Show Me Showdown on Oct. 18 at the University of Missouri-Columbia.
“It’s a chance for us to go against really good competition… It’s good to be up against people who are bigger than us, who are stronger than us, and who are tougher than us,” Stewart said.
“You get to see some of the top athletes and see how we stack up. It’s a good way to see how well you are doing and how much you need to improve the rest of the year,” Kono said.
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