WashU placed second and third at the D3 Shootout in Chicago on Nov. 8-9. (Bri Nitsberg | Managing Photo Editor)

The WashU men’s and women’s swim and dive teams competed in the D3 Shootout tournament at the University of Chicago on Nov. 8-9. The No. 9 men’s team finished in second place, and the No. 16 women’s team finished in third against some of the best programs in Division III. 

WashU came into the tournament with mixed results in the last few weeks of competition. On Oct. 18, the Bears beat Division I Saint Louis University. However, WashU lost to the No. 2 men’s and No. 7 women’s UChicago teams on Nov. 2.

Across the 38-event, two-day meet, the Bears recorded 26 Top 5 finishes, including four first-place finishes. Fifth-year Kyle Wolford recorded two of WashU’s top finishes, finishing first in the 100-yard and 200-yard backstrokes, with respective times of 48.90 seconds and 1:47.99. Both of Wolford’s times are currently the third-best in D-III. 

“I think a lot of it comes from experience,” Wolford said. “I’ve been doing this for five years in college, and the National Champion in the 200 back — Alex McCormick — was my roommate for three years in college. I swam with him every day in practice, so I think a lot of it just came down to racing him, and then go[ing] to all these other meets and racing all these elite swimmers. And a lot of it came from losing. I had to lose a bunch before I learned how to get better.”

Sophomore Marco Minai was the other WashU men’s swimmer who won his event, winning the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 1:50.49. Minai also finished second in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 1:48.81, a Top 10 time in D-III.

On the women’s team, the sophomore class continued their dominant form from last season. Sophomore Rachel Bello won the 500 freestyle in 5:05.51, one of the Top 20 times in D-III. Sophomore Shanze Karimi placed third in both the one- and three-meter diving events. Last season, Karimi was a standout for the Bears, setting a school record in the three-meter diving event. Fellow sophomore Lili Sandor placed fourth in the 200-yard breaststroke, with a time of 2:24.64. Elizabeth Chen, another sophomore, placed fourth in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 56.80 seconds.

On the men’s team, senior Ryan Hillery led the charge in distance events, placing fourth in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:36.07.

Off the bat, relays were a strength for the Bears. In the first event of the meet, the women’s 200-yard medley relay — consisting of Chen, sophomore Hannah Lee, sophomore Peyton Watson, and first-year Iris Qi — finished with a time of 1:43.80, which is currently a Top 10 time in D-III. Individually, Lee placed second in the 200-yard backstroke. Junior Ali Roche, who competed on the 800-yard medley relay and 200-yard freestyle relay, placed fifth in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2:06.07 — currently the ninth-fastest in D-III.

Wolford explained that, while relays have not always been a focus for WashU, he hopes that sprint relays — including the 200-yard freestyle relay — will be a strength  for the team this season. 

“It’s a very promising sign to see [the 200-yard medley relay] really firing on a level that it hasn’t before … I think that is how we take that next step to get into that top range of teams at Nationals,” Wolford said.

The men’s 200-yard medley relay — made up of Wolford, first-year Ben Scott, graduate student Austin Bick, and junior Ethan Feng — beat the Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens by 0.26 seconds to finish second behind Chicago. Feng also placed third in the 200-yard freestyle, touching 0.15 seconds before Swarthmore College’s Danny Castle with a time of 1:40.04. Bick also placed fifth in the 100-yard butterfly. The men’s 800-yard freestyle relay of Bick, senior Danny Sibley, Feng, and Hillery, finished second; the women’s 800-yard freestyle relay, mixed 400-yard medley relay, mixed 400 freestyle relay, and men’s 200-yard freestyle relay all placed fourth.

In his third collegiate meet, Scott placed in the Top 5 in both the 400-yard individual medley and 200-yard breaststroke. Scott’s time in the 200-yard backstroke is currently the fourth-fastest in D-III.WashU will next compete at Illinois Wesleyan University on Nov. 23 before heading to the Denison University Invitational on Dec. 5-7. Last season, WashU acquired 17 NCAA B-cuts and set a program record at the Denison meet. B-cuts are a crucial step for swimmers trying to swim at the NCAA Championships in Greensboro, North Carolina in late March. B-cuts put swimmers on a list, making them eligible for a spot at the meet. An A-cut guarantees a lane in Greensboro.