Courtesy: Duke Athletics
DURHAM – The Duke swimming and diving program will host North Carolina Friday afternoon as the programs celebrates Senior Day at Taishoff Aquatics Pavilion. Diving is set to begin at 1:30 p.m., with swimming to follow at 4 p.m.
KNOW THE HISTORY
No. NR/RV Duke takes on No. NR/24 North Carolina on Friday. Duke trails in the all-time series 4-39 and 6-75 for the women and men, respectively. In recent years, the series has been more even as the Blue Devils have won four of the last five for the women and three of the last four of the men’s meetings.
MEET INFORMATION
General public parking for the meet will be available at Science Drive Garage off Cameron Blvd., beginning at 7 a.m. General public accessible parking for guests with disabilities will be in the Card Gym Parking Lot off Towerview Road. Both areas are free of charge.
For more meet day information, please visit HERE.
SENIOR DAY
Prior to the meet, Duke will honor 19 seniors or graduate students graduating from Duke this spring for their contributions to the program. The 19 student-athletes being honored are Harel Anolick (biomedical engineering), Lucy Callard (public policy), John Day (economics), David Hallaron (biology), Alicia Harrison (Masters of Management Studies), Shayna Hollander (psychology), Zoe Lusk (neuroscience), Shae Nicolaisen (biology and global health), Rachel Peroni (psychology), Maddy Pfaff (psychology), Melissa Pish (neuroscience), Maddi Pullinger (evolutionary anthropology and psychology), Cole Reznick (economics), Justin Sodokoff (Masters of Management Studies), Everett Werner (mechanical engineering), Matthew Whelan (biology), Cabell Whitlow (psychology), Henry Wu (biomedical engineering) and Colson Zucker (psychology).
HOW TO FOLLOW
Live results will be updated throughout the meet on Meet Mobile. Diving results can be found on DiveMeets.com. The meet will also be streamed on ACC Network Extra. The link for the stream is HERE.
LAST TIME OUT
The Duke swimming and diving team fell to No. 2/5 NC State at Willis R. Casey Aquatic Center on Saturday.
The Duke women dropped the meet 126-174 to the fifth-ranked Wolfpack while the men came up short to No. 2 NC State, 112-177.
“We opened up and were a little sluggish this morning, we had a conversation about swimming with desire and making sure you are thinking about the last 25 and 50,” Duke head coach Dan Colella said. “I feel like our back half of the session this morning was significantly better. Some great performances. There were swims across the board that were very impressive, and I think it is setting us up for the end of season championships.”
The women’s diving squad was strong in the meet, taking the top four spots in the one-meter competition. Freshman Margo O’Meara led the way with a score of 325.35, followed by senior Maddi Pullinger (295.43), junior Kate Mullin (268.50) and junior Ali Watson (266.55), respectively. In the three-meter competition, O’Meara took the top spot with a score of 340.65. Pullinger placed third in the event, recording a 283.43.
For the full recap of all the action, click HERE.
RECORD BOOK UPDATE: 24 CAREER-BEST TIMES
The Duke swimming and diving team recorded an impressive 24 career-best times between the two meets at NC State last weekend.
Duke’s 24 career-best times were split between the exhibition meet on Friday night and the meet Saturday morning at the Willis R. Casey Aquatic Center on NC State’s campus.
Of those 24 times, four placed on the top-10 charts in program history. Sophomore Sarah Foley shined on Friday night in the exhibition, recording two stellar times. Her mark of 4:08.97 topped former Blue Devil Lizzie Devitt‘s time of 4:09.58 from 2018 to set the program record. Foley, a native of Philadelphia, Pa., also clocked 1:45.94 in the 200 freestyle to move into second all-time at Duke in the event.
Freshman Michael Jiang led the Blue Devils with five career-best times through the two meets. His most notable time was on Friday in the 400 individual medley, registering a 3:54.13 to place sixth in the event in program lore. The Woodbridge, Va., native also recorded a career-best 1:49.79 in the 200 individual medley as he won the event against NC State on Saturday,
Senior Lucy Callard rounded out the top-10 times as she swam the 10th-fastest time in program history in the 200 butterfly (1:59.17).
O’MEARA CONTINUES TO SHINE
Freshman Margo O’Meara was named the ACC Women’s Diver of the Week following her performances at NC State, the league announced on Jan. 18.
It is the fourth consecutive honor for O’Meara this season (Nov. 2, Nov. 9, Nov. 23 and Jan. 18). A native of St. Louis, Mo., O’Meara is the first women’s diver to earn four consecutive awards since the 2013-14 season. In addition, her four honors in a season are the most by a women’s diver since NC State’s Madeline Kline earned four in 2018-19.
O’Meara earned her fourth award with a stellar performance at NC State. She swept the springboard competition with scores of 325.35 in the one-meter and 340.65 in the three-meter. So far in her collegiate career, O’Meara is undefeated on the three-meter board and has placed first in the one-meter in four of five competitions.
During the program’s winter break, O’Meara competed at the 2021 USA Diving Winter Nationals. She reached the finals of all three events she competed in, including a second-place finish in the synchronized three-meter diving event. O’Meara teamed up with Kristen Hayden in the competition, scoring 512.10 to finish second. She also placed fifth and sixth on the one- and three-meter boards, respectively.
BOTH PROGRAMS HONORED AS SCHOLAR ALL-AMERICA TEAMS
The College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) selected the Duke men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams as a Scholar All-America Team for the fall 2021 semester.
Duke was one of 450 schools to receive the award for the spring semester. The Blue Devils boasted GPAs of 3.62 on the women’s side and 3.69 for the men’s program.
The Blue Devils led the ACC on both the men’s and women’s sides while the men’s GPA tied for third nationally. Duke was one of just four teams to have over a 3.60 GPA for both teams nationwide.
UP NEXT
Following the meet, the Blue Devils travel to Blacksburg, Va., for the Hokie Invitational at Virginia Tech. The meet will run from Feb. 4-6.
FOLLOW ALONG
For more information on Duke swimming and diving, follow the Blue Devils on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching for “DukeSwimDive”.
