Oct. 18, 2009

Saturday, October 17

Carolina Sweeps Virginia Tech & South Carolina In The Pool

Both Tar Heel swimming and diving teams started the season 1-0 in the ACC after defeating Virginia Tech in the double dual meet at Koury Natatorium Saturday afternoon. The UNC women beat the Hokies 183-117 and the men won 172-128. UNC also triumphed over the University of South Carolina Gamecocks with the women winning 194-103 and the men 197-106.

The men and women produced season best times in every event. On the women's side, freshman Carly Smith , senior Megan Steeves and sophomore Layne Brodie each had two individual wins and were on the winning 200-yard medley relay.

Megan Steeves took the top spots in the 50 and 100-yard freestyles and Smith won both backstrokes. Smith's time in the 100-yard backstroke was a NCAA "B" qualifying time, and she was .02 seconds off her NCAA "B" qualifying time in the 200-yard backstroke. Brodie took first in the 100-yard breaststroke and the 200-yard IM. The women swept the 100-yard butterfly with freshman Katie Nolan leading the way followed by sophomore Sarah Tanner in second place and Carly Smith in third place.

Seniors Jeff James and Jason McLaughlin had key swims that helped the men's team claim both victories. Jason McLaughlin had a first-place finish in the 200-yard butterfly and a season best time in the process. Jeff James anchored both the 200-yard medley and 400-yard freestyle relays. Steve Cerbertowicz swept both sprint freestyle events (50 and 100) and led off the winning 400-yard freestyle relay.

H2Okies split at North Carolina with pair of wins over South Carolina

The Virginia Tech swimming and diving teams posted solid finishes in their season opening meet on Saturday at Maurice J. Koury Natatorium, as the H2Okie men and women defeated South Carolina, 202-98 and 205.50-94.50, respectively. Both teams also put forth a strong effort against ACC foe North Carolina but came up short, as the men fell 172-128, and the women fell 183-117.

The H2Okies captured a total of 11 first-place finishes (seven for the men, four for the women) and earned nine second-place spots en route to a pair of victories over SEC opponent, South Carolina.

FSU Takes Out FGCU And UM

The Florida State women's swimming and diving team continued their dominance this season as they defeated Florida Gulf Coast and intra-state rival Miami on Saturday in Fort Myers, Fla.

The team faced their toughest competition to date as FGCU won five events and Miami claimed first place in four events. Florida State dug deep however, and came up with wins in seven events, including a sweep of the top three spots in both the one-meter and three-meter dive competitions.

Once again the Seminoles were led in the pool by sophomore Stephanie Sarandos who took first in the 100 back (57.76) and the 200 back (2:02.86). Senior Shanda Casella finished first in the 50 free (23.94), while junior C.J. Hendry was victorious in the 100 fly (56.42). Casella and Hendry were also a part of the winning 200 free relay team (1:34:87) which also included seniors Stevi Steinhauer and Carly Cavalieri.

Hurricanes Swimmers Compete Hard at FGCU

Annika Saarnak and Sofia Johansson each posted wins on Saturday as the University of Miami swimming and diving team took part in a tri-meet against Florida Gulf Coast and Florida State at the Lee County/FGCU Aquatics Center on the FGCU campus in Ft. Myers, Fla.

Miami (0-5, 0-3 ACC) fell in both duals at FGCU, falling to the host Eagles (L, 195-99) and ACC foe FSU Seminoles (L, 183-108).

One of the people Shefchunas saw fight through fatigue was Sofia Johansson, a freshman from Ramlösa, Sweden. Johansson collected wins in the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke. For Johansson, Saturday's meet marked just her second-ever short course event. The win was Johansson's second consecutive in the 100 breast, and her second top three performance in the 200 breast.

Duke Swimming and Diving Grounds Seahawks

Both the men's and the women's swim and dive teams picked up their first wins of the season, downing UNC-Wilmington at Taishoff Aquatics Pavilion Saturday afternoon.

To begin the meet, both the men and the women surrendered victories in the 200 medley relays to the visiting Seahawks, but it was the way Duke responded that set the tone for the rest of the meet. In the very next race, the women posted a sweep of the 1000 freestyle led by junior Ashley Twichell with a time of 10:04.71 and senior Jackie Fasano in 10:16.27. The men's 1000 freestyle was highlighted by a first place finish from sophomore Nathan French (9:40.46) and second place from freshman Alex Harmon (9:47.49).

On the men's side the score bounced back and forth into the 50 freestyle, but the Blue Devils emerged from the first break with newfound vigor.

The women, after their somewhat rocky start, cruised to victory by a score of 175-120. Sophomore diver, Abby Johnston began the 2009-10 campaign where she left off last season, handedly winning both the one and three-meter competitions. And Ashley Twichell, in addition to her first place in the 1000 freestyle, recorded the meet's fastest time in the 500 freestyle with a 4:59.82.