Both Minnesota swimming and diving teams traveled to West Lafayette, Indiana over the weekend and emerged from the pool successful in what was a true team effort.
The men beat Purdue 195-156 and Northwestern 265-85 in the Triple Dual. The women also took down both teams with a 185-167 win over Purdue and a score of 231-122 to beat Northwestern.
“I think what was really impressive was that really across the board we had people step up into the role we needed them to play this weekend,” said head coach Kelly Kremer. “Whatever we needed them to do, they were able to do for our team.”
The women’s team was missing two usual key scorers, Brooke Zeiger and Danielle Nack, for medical reasons, sophomore Chantal Nack said. The rest of the team stepped up to make up for those points and saw success across the board.
Senior Yu Zhou led the women’s team in the diving events on the first day of competition. She won both the 1-meter (312.65) and the 3-meter (344.05) springboard competitions.
Senior Lexi Tenenbaum won the exhibition platform event on Saturday with a score of 289.85.
Sophomore Zoe Avestruz came in first place in the 50 free event in 23.05, followed by sophomore Chantal Nack in sixth (24.07).
“I was happy with my individual races,” Chantal Nack said. “I think my times are at a good spot this season.”
Senior Kierra Smith took home a win in the 200 breaststroke (2:11.98), followed by freshman Lindsey Horejsi (2:44.95).
The team of Zoe Avestruz, Chantal Nack, Kaia Grobe and Tevyn Waddell snagged a win in the 400 free relay (3:22.86) to secure the win for the women’s team.
The 100 freestyle was a strong event on the men’s side. Sophomore Bowe Becker won the event with a time of 43.74, followed by senior Paul Fair in second.
Becker also claimed the 50 free title in 20.13, followed by seniors Daryl Turner (20.67) and Noah Busch (20.89) in fourth and fifth, respectively.
“On the men’s side, I think that Daryl Turner, Paul Fair and Bowe Becker really stand out,” Kremer said. “In all of their races, they were absolutely dynamite. [They were] critical to our win.”
The Gophers will host the Minnesota Challenge at the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center Feb. 3 before heading to the Big Ten Championships the following weekend.
“[The] next couple weeks will involve a lot of rest and fine tuning and just putting the finishing touches on a lot of work,” Kremer said.” We’re going to rest and get ready to go.”
