The East Carolina Pirate swimming team celebrated New Years on the beach in Jupiter, Florida (while their divers competed at the Tennessee Diving Invitational). The team spent 7 days training in Florida with a dryland and in-water workout in the mornings followed by another session in the pool in the evening.
The Pirates lost their first dual meet after their training trip to South Carolina, although the men’s team fought to within 12 points of the Gamecocks without the benefit of exhibition swims. That improves upon the 60-point loss last season and is the closest East Carolina has come to beating their in-state rivals since their last win in the series in the 1979-1980 season.
That loss dropped the team to 6-2 on the season, and they’ll have one more dual meet on January 25th on the road against UMBC before racing at the American Athletic Conference Championships from February 19th-22nd.