The past two weeks have been refreshing for the Utes. They started off with an alumni meet for week 1, then an intrasquad meet for week 2.

The alumni meet was a nice and easy way to get ready for the regular season. The swim teams were having a great time going at it against each other and the teammates of the past. However, the current swimmers wasted no time in showing who was the best in their respective events. Charity Pittard and Hilja Schimmel were dominating in their races, both going under 1:06.00 in the 100m breaststroke and under 31.00 in the 50m breaststroke. For the men, on the other hand, it wasn’t as easy.

The men’s alumni came to play, as they took the win in a few heats. Cody Rempher, from the 2003-04 swim team, won in the 50m fly by a couple seconds. A senior from last year, Andrew Britton, won the 50m breaststroke by a good margin as well. Finally, the alums took the win in the men’s 200m relay with a time of 1:32.07. Two standouts for the men’s team were freshman Evan VanBrocklin and junior Parker McOmber, who both absolutely showed out in their heats for the day.

As for the intrasquad meet, the Utes raced solely against themselves. And, as for the “King” and “Queen” of the day, freshman Evan VanBrocklin and senior Summer Stanfield were awarded those titles. VanBrocklin outperformed everyone and took first place against the men. JP Hynes got second, and Marko Kovacic finished third. As for the women, Stanfield cleared the competition and came in first, second was Kayla Miller, and third was Charity Pittard. 

VanBrocklin has shown a lot of promise, and he’s only a freshman. He will definitely be one to watch out for for the next few years in this Utes swim program. The women have solid individuals that can hold their own against almost anyone. Another bright spot for the women was that three freshmen finished in fourth, fifth and sixth. In fourth was Hilja Schimmel, in fifth was Erin Palmer and in sixth was Lily Milner. 

“I was pleased with the meet today,” coach Jonas Persson said. “We had fun and raced hard. It was a good experience for our first Queen and King of the Pool.”

After a disappointing season for the men last year, the team will have to find a way to bounce back and get a couple of conference wins this year to regain some respect within the Pac-12. As for the women, the same goes for them, in the sense that they need to win big against a conference opponent. This year seems promising with the talented freshmen that have arrived.

Next week, the Utes will have their first real meet and must now prepare for BYU, who they face on Sept. 23 in Provo. They must prepare for the relay meet and focus on starting off their season with a win.

[email protected]

@JakeMMiller5