The women’s swimming and diving team hosted the University of Florida and came out of the meet with a rare result: a tie.
The Gophers matched the Gators 150-150 as the battle came down to the 400 relay, in which the Gophers pulled out the victory and saved the team from a loss.
Senior Samantha Harding won both the 1000 freestyle with a time of 9:53.79 and the 500 freestyle with a time of 4:52.00, sweeping the same events she did the week before at Florida State University.
“I feel like I performed pretty well. I think it’s one of my best dual meets so far,” Harding said. “I’m a senior, so I’ve done a bunch of dual meets; we’re all pretty sore and tired,
so I was really just hoping to do my best for the team, and I think I did that.”
Sophomore Danielle Nack picked up a victory for the Gophers in the 200 butterfly with a time of 1:59.01 and placed second in the 100 butterfly. Freshman Rachel Munson finished first in the 100 breastroke in 1:02.81, and senior Lauren Votava won the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:49.69 while also playing a big part in both of the team’s winning relay teams.
The women’s diving team was led by junior Yu Zhou, who won the 1-meter event with a total score of 336.98 and the 3-meter with a score of 380.03. She was followed by junior Lexi Tenenbaum, who finished second in the 3-meter and third in the 1-meter.
Men place second
The men’s swimming and diving team lost to the No. 1-ranked Gators 174.5-124.5, but they still had a few positive takeaways from the meet.
“It was a great early-season meet for us; Florida’s an awesome group to compete against,” head coach Kelly Kremer said. “I’m really proud of the way our teams handled themselves and the way they competed.”
The Gophers swept the 100 breaststroke with junior Eric Sande, who finished with a time of 56:60. Sophomore Conner McHugh finished second, and junior Nick Hatanaka followed in third. They also swept the 200 breaststroke behind John Bushman’s 2:02.08, followed by McHugh, junior Jakub Maly and Hatanaka.
Junior Nick Orf continued his success in the 200 butterfly, winning with a time of 1:49.77. Junior Paul Fair collected four second place finishes on the day with a runner-up finish in the 50 freestyle, the 100 freestyle and both relay races.
Junior Daryl Turner, who was noticeably missing last weekend at Florida State while recovering from a dislocated knee, returned for the Gophers, placing second in the 100 butterfly with a time of 49.22.
He also was third in the 100 back with a time of 48.35 and was on both of the Gophers’ leading relay teams.
“I felt really good upper body, lower body not so much,” Turner said. “[Going underwater was] a big struggle for me today. My legs are definitely feeling the entire two and a half weeks that I was out and not using my legs.”
Junior Matt Barnard won the 3-meter event for the diving team, setting a new personal record of 416.10 while also placing third in the 1-meter event. Senior Dylan Zoe collected a second-place finish in the 3-meter, while Manny Pollard placed second in the 1-meter.
“This was a real team effort today; from start to finish we had some swims across the board that I’m really proud of,” Kremer said. “Our divers did a great job, too; we had a really great day swimming and diving.”
