No. 11 men’s and No. 15 women’s swim defeat DePauw in final tune-up before UAA Championships

| Junior Sports Editor

A WashU swimmer competes at a dual meet in mid-January. (Brandon Juarez-Ramos | Staff Photographer)

As their two championships approach rapidly with roughly a month left in their seasons, the No. 11 men’s and No. 15 women’s WashU swim teams faced DePauw University on Feb. 1, with both teams coming out victorious. In their final tune-up before the University Athletic Association (UAA) Championships, the men’s team won 196-85, and the women’s team won 189-100.  

Head coach Brad Shively described the change in the team’s preparation as they approach the end of the regular season. 

“We have transitioned to more speed and pace work in the last couple of weeks in preparation of the UAA Championships,” he wrote in a statement to Student Life. “It’s challenging work as you have to force the speed in practice. The training volume is overall lower than we had in the fall which gives them more time to work on race details.” 

In the men’s events, the Bears claimed 14 first-place finishes, rounding out a strong day of competition. Juniors Andy Zhu, Kai Taft, Ethan Feng, and Matthew Walker won the 200 yard medley relay with a time of 1:33.28, a race where the top-three finishes were all held by WashU swimmers. 

Junior Orluke Borjigin won the 200 yard freestyle with a time of 1:41.99, and fifth-year Kyle Wolford won the 100 yard backstroke in 50.92 seconds. 

First-years also notched many strong performances for the men’s team throughout the dual meet.

In the 50 yard freestyle, first-year Jacob Tulchinsky came in first place with a time of 21.17 seconds. Ben Scott noteched the fastest time in the 100 yard backstroke with a time of 57.57 seconds. Additionally, Chas Jones not only claimed the 200 yard breaststroke, but the 200 yard individual medley (IM) as well. In the distance events, first-year Allan Chu beat out DePauw competition to win the 1,000 yard freestyle in 9:53.43. 

“The 10 minutes goes by because the first half of the race, you don’t feel much. And then it’s just who wants it more at the last 500,” Chu said. “The person next to you always wants it as much as you do.”

On the women’s side, the Bears grabbed 12 first-place finishes. The women’s 200 yard medley relay team consisting of sophomores Izzie Gattone, Hannah Lee, Elizabeth Chen, and Peyton Watson finished in first with a time of 1:49.05. This event’s top-three finishes were again claimed by WashU swimmers.

First-year Annabel Hermacinski won the 200 yard butterfly with a time of 2:13.09, the team’s top first-year finish. 

Graduate-student sprint swimmer Abbey Mink won both the 50 yard freestyle and 100 yard butterfly. On the other side in the distance events, junior Anna Fonda came in first in the 1,000 yard freestyle.

“It was pretty cool because I actually had surgery last year,” Fonda said. “So it was the first race I’ve won since my surgery, and it just felt really good to have the whole team supporting me. It was definitely a really, really good feeling.”

Junior Avery Dixon claimed the 100 yard breaststroke, followed by first-years Becca Hackel, Julia Pintescu, Maddie Sammut, and Lindsay Alisbah rounding out the top five, respectively.

In the 200 yard freestyle relay, a team consisting of Mink and seniors Riya Sahota, Isabella Barrientos, and Caroline DeLuca narrowly finished in second behind a team from DePauw.

As the team continues to prepare themselves for the UAA Championships on Feb. 12-15, Shively is looking to ensure that his athletes are in the best condition possible.

“We are looking forward to competing against many of the strongest swimmers and divers in the country,” he wrote. “The UAA Championships are a 3.5 day meet so an athlete needs to be prepared to compete both morning and evening for multiple days.”

Fonda also commented on what Shively is pushing her and her teammates to accomplish.

“[Shively’s] kind of been pushing us to be our best in practice and in meets and every little thing. He’s been really pushing us, focusing on all the details,” she said.

Starting on Feb. 12 and concluding on Feb. 15, the WashU swim teams will travel to Emory University, this year’s host for the conference championships, in Atlanta. 

The Bears will look to improve their times not only for a strong conference performance, but also because at the conference, they can qualify for the NCAA Championships, which take place in March. 

Consistency will be key for the Bears going into the postseason, according to Shively.

“A big part is to trust in your ability to compete and to have fun,” he wrote. “I think our team has done a good job of keeping the main thing the main thing and just enjoying having the opportunity to practice and race as a team.”

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