Duke Returns to the Pool Saturday for Battle with North Carolina

Courtesy: Duke Athletics

DURHAM, N.C. – Back in competition for the first time in three weeks, the Blue Devil men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams face Tobacco Road rival North Carolina in the teams’ regular season finale Saturday. Events get underway at 12 p.m. from the Tar Heels’ Koury Natatorium and on ACC Network Extra.

Blue Devil Basics
The Duke women enter the weekend with a 3-1 ledger in dual meets this season and a 1-1 mark against ACC competition while the men’s team sits at 2-2 (0-2 ACC). In their last action, both the men’s and women’s teams earned dual meet victories over Queens University of Charlotte and William & Mary on Senior Day in Taishoff Jan. 12. The Blue Devil divers excelled against the divers of UNCW on the same day, recording first-place finishes in all four events.

Several Blue Devil swimmers have posted times this season that rank among the top 50 in the country:
Maddie Hess – 43rd, 50 Freestyle (22.47); 40th, 100 Backstroke (53.01); 36th, 200 Backstroke (1:54.67)
Kylie Jordan – t20th, 100 Butterfly (52.34)
Easop Lee – 50th, 400 Individual Medley (4:13.52)
Alyssa Marsh – t16th, 50 Freestyle (22.12); 20th, 100 Freestyle (48.29); 16th, 100 Backstroke (52.27); 14th, 100 Butterfly (52.10)
Melissa Pish – t28th, 200 Freestyle (1:45.54); 49th, 1,000 Freestyle (10:00.22)

Max St. George – 33rd, 100 Backstroke (46.75)
Miles Williams – 32nd, 50 Freestyle (19.64)

The Duke women’s 200, 400 and 800-yard freestyle relays all rank within the top 20 in the nation, as do the men’s 200 medley and 800 freestyle relays.

In diving, senior Evan Moretti and junior Nathaniel Hernandez rank among the ACC leaders on the one-meter, three-meter and platform, as does freshman Maddi Pullinger on the one-meter and platform and senior Mackenzie Willborn on the platform.

Duke at North Carolina
Saturday, 12 p.m. l Chapel Hill, N.C. – Koury Natatorium
ACC Network Extra l Live Results
Both North Carolina squads are coming off of dual meet losses to ranked Virginia teams last weekend in Chapel Hill. Saturday’s matchup with the Blue Devils marks the third straight ACC dual meet for the Tar Heels, who faced NC State earlier this month.

While North Carolina has held the upper hand historically in the all-time series between the schools, the Blue Devil men and women have come away with victories in each of the past two seasons. Last year’s meeting in Taishoff saw the Duke women take down the Tar Heel women by a 151-149 margin after a back-and-forth battle and the Duke men emerge with a 157.5-142.5 victory.

Up Next
The Blue Devils and the Tar Heels will share hosting responsibilities for next weekend’s Janis Hape Dowd Nike Invitational. Preliminaries and finals Friday, Feb. 8 and Sunday, Feb. 10 will take place at North Carolina’s Koury Natatorium and both sessions Saturday, Feb. 9 will be held at Duke’s Taishoff Aquatics Pavilion.