The Duke men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams return to action this weekend, hitting the road for a pair of non-conference meets at William & Mary Friday, Nov. 7 and Old Dominion Saturday, Nov. 8. Saturday’s meet in Norfolk, Va., will also feature St. Andrews University.
Live video will be available for Friday evening’s meet against the Tribe.
Blue Devils Post Strong Performances in Home Opener
The Duke men and women kicked off the home portion of their seasons two weeks ago at Taishoff Aquatics Pavilion. The squads both topped UNC Wilmington Oct. 25 before falling to Virginia Tech in ACC action Oct. 26. The Blue Devil divers claimed the top spot in all four springboard competitions against the Seahawks, with sophomore diver Cole Plambeck sweeping the men’s 1-meter and 3-meter diving events. The program’s swimmers also took first in all four relay events on the day.
In the meet against the Hokies the following day, the men’s 200-yard medley relay of sophomores Kaz Takabayashi and Peter Kropp, freshman Ryan Nicholson and sophomore James Peek touched first while eclipsing the previous pool record with a 1:29.27 clocking. Kropp also broke a facility record later with a 2:00.61 swim in the 200 breaststroke and doubled up with another first-place finish in the 100.
A Look at Duke
Kropp continues to pace the ACC in the breaststroke events and enters this weekend ranked fifth nationally in the 100 (54.22) and 18th at the 200-yard distance (2:00.61). Takabayashi, Kropp, Nicholson and Peek come in at eighth nationally in the 200 medley relay (1:28.65) while sophomore Bradley Cline is currently fifth in the conference in the 200 IM after turning in a 1:51.21 swim against Virginia Tech. On the women’s side, rookie Verity Abel is among the top five in the conference in the 1,000 freestyle at 10:09.49.
Scouting the Tribe
The William & Mary women own a 4-2 ledger heading into Friday’s dual meet against the Blue Devils after topping UNC Wilmington and Delaware and falling to James Madison last weekend in CAA action. The Tribe men are 4-1 on the year with the squad’s most recent wins coming over the Blue Hens and the Seahawks last weekend in Wilmington, N.C. Junior Jeremiah O’Donnell was selected the CAA Swimmer of the Week after leading William & Mary to the pair of conference victories, going 6-0 in his individual events for the weekend.
Friday’s meet at William & Mary will be contested in a sprint format.
Scouting the Monarchs
Old Dominion split with Towson in its home opener Oct. 26, as the men won both relays en route to defeating the Tigers and the women dropped the dual meet decision. Senior diver Rachel Eckhert garnered Conference USA Diver of the Week honors after taking first on both the 1-meter and 3-meter boards in the loss to Towson.
Scouting the Knights
The St. Andrews men and women are coming off of losses to Wingate University at home Oct. 18. The teams placed seventh and 12th, respectively, at the season-opening All-North Carolina Invitational in Greensboro, N.C., in early October.
Head Coach Dan Colella:
“Matt Crispino does a great job at William & Mary,” said head coach Dan Colella. “On the women’s side they will have some real highlights that will contest our women. Like always, we need to be ready to race. Friday’s meet will be a change in format, which I think everybody is excited about. On the men’s side, last year it was a battle and I think it will be again this year. We’re doing more of this racing two days in a row to be more tough mentally and physically.”
College Swimming News courtesy of Duke Swimming and Diving.