Women’s Swim and Dive Record First Ever Win Against Arizona
October 5, 2019
The University of Utah Swim and Dive teams hosted a meet against the University of Arizona on Friday. The women’s team registered the first win against Arizona in program history, winning 174-126. The men’s team fell 129-172.
Women’s Results
Newcomers to the women’s team provided a spark to propel the Utes to this historic victory. Charity Pittard began her career at Utah by winning two events, the 200 breast (2:19.55) and 200 IM (2:05.53). She also finished second in the 100 breast (1:05.03).
Leyre Casarin placed first in the 100 free with a time of 52.09. She also won the 50 free (23.91). The Utes swept the top three in the 50 free with Maddie Woznik placing second and Kayla Miller coming in third. Sarah Lott, Mariah Gassaway and Emma Lawless teamed up with Casarin to win the 200 medley relay for the Utes, finishing with a time of 1:43.16.
The Utes also put together a winning team effort in the 400 free relay. Casarin, Woznick, Miller and Audrey Reimer teamed up for that, clocking in at 3:28.04. Reimer also won the 200 back with a time of 2:02.16.
There are many other events that Utes placed in. Miller placed second in the 200 free with a time of 1:53.94. Lott placed first in the 100 back with a time of 55.12. Christina Pick placed in two events: she was the runner up in the 200 fly (2:05.72) and placed third in the 100 fly (58.65). Sara McClendon also placed in two events. She was second in the 1000 free with a time of 10:20.62 and another second-place finish in the 500 free (5:03.04).
On the diving side, Lizzy DeCecco had a strong showing, winning both 1m (255.30) and 3m (249.98) events for the Utes.
Coach Speaks Glowingly
“Our freshman girls, swimmers and divers, in their first Pac-12 meet, their first real meet, they came out and helped us to sort of dominate,” said head coach Joe Dykstra. “A really inspiring performance by our freshmen women and our women’s team in general.”
“It’s thrilling,” said Dykstra, when asked about making program history with the women’s team’s first ever win against Arizona. “It’s a tremendous accomplishment anytime you do a first of anything.”
Men’s Results
On the men’s side, they got off to a hot start. They won the 200 medley relay with David Fridlander, Cooper DeRyk, Liam O’Haimhirgin and Andrew Britton in a time of 1:30.14. Fridlander took first in the 100 back (49.99) and second in the 200 back in 1:52.14. DeRyk put a winning effort in the 50 free, finishing in 21.04. O’Haimhirgin won the 100 free in 46.23. Britton put together a second place finish in the 100 breast (57.26).
Rahiti De Vos added a pair of top three finishes, second in the 500 free (4:38.66) and third in the 200 free (1:42.41). Ben Waterman placed twice, winning the 100 fly (50.12) and placing second in the 200 fly (1.53.38).
On the diving side, Tony Chen was impressive for the Utes, finishing top three in both events, 3m and 1m. Fridlander, DeRyk, Liam O’Haimhirgin and Finn O’Haimhirgin closed out the meet with a second place finish in the 400 free relay (3:02.70).
Next Up for the Utes
Both teams travel to California next weekend — the women have two duals, first against No. 25 UCLA, then against No. 15 USC. The men’s team will be at a meet against UCSB on Saturday. “We’re going to train hard this week because it’s our fall break,” Dykstra said “So we are going to be tired for those meets, but we were tired today and figured out a way to step up and swim well.”
