Olympian Phoebe Bacon Returns to Racing as Wisconsin Handles Green Bay in Season Opener

Wisconsin Badgers vs. Green Bay Phoenix

• Friday, October 11, 2024
• Soderholm Family Aquatic Center, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin
• Short Course Yards (25 yards)
• Meet Results (PDF)
• Team Scores
  • Women: #13 Wisconsin 191 – Green Bay 50 (Exhibition impacted)
  • Men: Wisconsin 185 – Green Bay 56 (Exhibition impacted)

The Wisconsin Badgers kicked off their 2024-2025 season with a dominant win over in-state foes from Green Bay. The Badgers touched first in every race on the day, though a few late exhibitions to keep the score close mean that officially the Phoenix picked up some wins.

The Phoenix, already in their third meet of the season, finished last at last season’s Horizon League Championships, but are turning the page into a new era after getting some of their scholarships back this season.

Women’s Recap

Phoebe Bacon raced for the first time on Friday since her 4th place finish in the 200 back at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. She picked up a pair of victories in the meet in spite of not swimming her specialty backstroke races, touching first in the 100 fly (53.38) and 200 free (1:47.62).

It’s hard to read too much into those results, given where we are in the season, but that time in the 200 free is a new flat-start lifetime best for her, and the 100 fly is a significantly better than where she was in October meets last season. Bacon took a brief break after the Olympics, but her coaches say she really didn’t deal with the “post-Olympic blues” that hit so many swimmers, and recharged quickly.

She also split 50.51 leading off Wisconsin’s “A” 400 free relay that touched first, though they were exhibitioned.

Bacon was the lone individual double winner in the swimming portion of the women’s meet.

The Wisconsin women are deep in the backstrokes this season thanks to the arrival of freshman Maggie Wanezek, an in-state recruit ranked #8 in the class of 2024. Wanezek led off Wisconsin’s 200 medley relay in a 24.62 split as part of an all-rookie winning medley for the Wisconsin women that touched in 1:41.80. When Bacon is inevitably added back on to those medley relays, the Badgers will have a lot of options.

Wanezek picked up her first collegiate win in an individual event by winning the 200 IM in 2:02.11.

There was no 100 backstroke on the met schedule, but in the 200, with neither of their star backstrokers racing, Wisconsin still picked up a win thanks to Anna teDuits in 2:00.77.

Molly Hampton swept the diving events for Wisconsin. On 3-meter, she scored 252.83, winning by just .3 points – about the closest margin possible in diving. She won the 1-meter more comfortably with a score of 238.95.

Men’s Recap

The Wisconsin men won multiple Big Ten men’s event titles last year, and they’re looking to springboard off that into a lurch forward this season – including for Yigit Aslan.

Aslan kicked off his season by winning the 200 free in 1:38.60, a second-and-a-half better than the runner-up Andrew Hanson. Aslan won by an even bigger margin, five-and-a-half, in the 500 free, touching in 4:27.97. That’s right where he was last season in October on his way to a Big Ten title in that event.

The team’s other champion, Taiko Torepe-Ormsby, was more tempered in his season debut. He swam 46.32 leading off the team’s 400 free relay, split 20.38 on a 200 medley relay anchor, and was 4th in the 100 fly in 50.67.

The Badger middle-distance and distance crews led the way for them. Besides Aslan, Yoav Romano swam 19:18.23 in the 1000 and Zach Ward swam 9:25.02. That win for Romano comes in his NCAA debut.

Ben Wiegand also had a good season-opener for Wisconsin, winning the 100 breast (54.85) and 50 free (20.10). He also had a 19.52 anchor split on the winning 200 medley relay.

Those times, both in events that were on his Big Ten schedule last season, are both only about half-a-second short of his taper times from last season, even with the Badgers racing in training suits.

The meet was also the Wisconsin debut for Finn Bacon, the younger brother of Phoebe. He finished 3rd in the 200 back in 1:50.10 and also split 46.38 on a 400 free relay anchor.

Among the best results for Green Bay was a 57.93 from freshman Quinlan Schroeder in the 100 breaststroke, which put him at the top of a Phoenix breaststroke group that was a strength of the team last season. Max Kasal was 4th in both the 50 free (21.18) and 100 free (47.11), while Sebby Smolecki was 4th in 1:53.80.

The Badgers face a much bigger text next week with a two-day tri meet against Michigan and Notre Dame next weekend. Green Bay will race at the Wisconsin Showcase in Milwaukee next Saturday.