The Washington University swimming and diving teams kicked off the second half of their season with a bang, with a decisive win over Lindenwood University on Friday night. The women came out on top with a 156-77 victory, and the men won 136-106. The men’s team followed up the next day with a win against Wabash College, defeating the Little Giants 172-126.
Fresh off their annual training trip to Florida, the Bear swimmers were relentless. The women placed first in all but two events. On the women’s side, diver Priya Srikanth had an outstanding performance, winning both the 1-meter and 3-meter competitions and achieving season-high scores in both events.
Senior Meredith Nordbrock had a good meet as well, winning the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:11.36 and the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:14.92. Junior Kelly Kono also posted two first place finishes, in the 200 and 500-yard freestyle events, in 1:56.34 and 5:10.17, respectively.
The men had similar success, winning nine events overall. Junior Kevin Leckey led the Bears with victories in the 200-yard individual medley and the 200-yard backstroke. He finished the IM in 1:58.65 and the backstroke in 1:58.35. The men also dominated the distance freestyle events, putting up 1-2 finishes in the 200-yard, 500-yard and 1650-yard races.
After their defeat of Lindenwood, the men’s team traveled to Crawfordsville, Ind. to take on Wabash College. Junior Perry Bullock and freshman Michael Flanagan helped carry the Bears to a solid win, claiming first and second place in the 100-yard butterfly, 200-yard butterfly and the 400-yard individual medley.
Bullock took first in the 100 fly with a time of 52.30 and the 400 IM with a time of 4:12.29, and Flanagan won the 200 fly in 1:55.23. Leckey dominated the sprint freestyle events, winning the 50-yard freestyle in 21.71, the 100-yard freestyle in 47.89 and the 200-yard freestyle in 1:45.58.
The Bears are back in action this weekend at home for the Washington University Invitational. The first session starts Friday, Jan. 18 at 6 p.m., and the second session is Saturday, Jan. 19 at 11 a.m., both at Millstone Pool in the Athletic Complex.