The Minnesota men’s swimming and diving squad bounced back from last weekend’s loss to then-No. 5 Florida with a dominant win over rival Wisconsin.
The Gophers women’s squad followed suit and recorded a win over Wisconsin, making it 3-0 on the season and 2-0 in the Big Ten.
Minnesota’s men beat the Badgers 220-150 in Madison, Wis., and the women won 218-152 after the teams competed for two days this weekend.
“It was a true team effort from the freshmen all the way up to the upperclassmen on the men’s side,” head coach Kelly Kremer said.
Two days of events meant a different format than both Minnesota teams have competed in this season, but the Gophers clearly felt right at home.
The usual suspects led Minnesota on the men’s side, as senior Derek Toomey paced the team with five event wins and fellow senior Kyler Van Swol also had five wins.
Toomey won the 50-yard freestyle for the third time this season but placed second in the 100 freestyle.
He said last weekend that he wanted to improve his 100 freestyle time as the season progresses.
Kremer said the performances by his top swimmers were very encouraging, but junior CJ Smith stood out. Smith won the 1,650 freestyle 16 seconds ahead of the next-closest finisher.
Kremer said the relay teams on the men’s side were also impressive.
In the diving well, sophomore Manny Pollard led the Gophers and swept the competition.
Not to be outdone, Minnesota was solid on the women’s side as well.
Kremer credited the balance of the women’s squad and said that depth will prove pivotal this year.
“We don’t want to have any weak events … and right now, we feel like we are well-balanced,” he said. “We feel really good about where that team is at.”
Kiera Janzen continued to dominate in the distance events and earned five event wins against the Badgers.
Becca Weiland also helped the team with four event wins. The junior has shown promise in sprint events this season and seems to be rolling against Big Ten competition.
Minnesota senior Maggie Keefer placed first in both diving competitions.
Kremer said there was a lot of energy between both teams at the meet against the Badgers, as expected.
“I told our teams that even though they’re at home, we need to make them feel like they’re on the road,” Kremer said. “And our team did that.”
Both squads will now have a weekend off before traveling to Iowa on Nov. 1 for another Big Ten contest.
