Minnesota Set to Host Wisconsin Friday In Pack The Pool Meet

Courtesy: Minnesota Athletics

MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota swimming and diving teams are back home this Friday as they host Wisconsin in a Big Ten border battle.

Competition is set to begin at 5 p.m. and admission is free for all fans. The meet will be streamed on B1G+ (subscription required) with live stats available on the Meet Mobile app (subscription required).

Friday night is the Gophers’ annual “Pack the Pool” event. The first 100 fans get a free t-shirt, while Minnesota students will receive free pizza while supplies last. In addition, there will be giveaways and prizes for UMN students.

The No. 24-ranked women’s team continued their strong start to the season last week, defeating St. Thomas and South Dakota State decisively.

Senior Megan Van Berkom added three more victories in what has been an impressive start to the young season. She took the crown in the 200 free (1:49.71), 100 breast (1:02.39) and 100 fly (55.17). The Chatham, Ill. native now holds the fastest times of the season for the Gophers in six individual events: 200 free, 100 breast, 200 breast, 200 fly, 200 IM and 400 IM.

In addition to Van Berkom, eight other women collected individual wins in the pool last time out. Sophomore Grace Drabot contributed a pair of top finishes in the 1000 free (10:25.43) and 200 IM (2:05.71).

The women divers had another successful meet last week with five athletes setting new season-high scores. Megan Phillip won the 1-meter dive with a season-best score of 299.50, while Vivi Del Angel won the 3-meter with a new season-high score of 353.25. This season, each Gopher diver has hit the qualifying mark in the 3-meter dive at least once.

The Gopher men will look to keep things rolling against the Badgers after a victory last Friday against St. Thomas and South Dakota State University.

Minnesota’s freshmen shined yet again, with YuTong Wang capturing wins in both the 3-meter and 1-meter dives with scores of 393.85 and 378.55, respectively.

For the freshmen swimmers, Ian Steffen led the Gopher men with two individual victories as he took the crown in the 100 back (50.00) and 100 fly (49.53). Davide Harabagiu claimed victory in the 50 free (20.46), Grant Wodny took the 200 fly (1:51.29), and Ryan Slonac won the 200 back (1:47.93).

The seniors also shined on a night that was dedicated to them, with Kaiser Neverman finishing first in the 200 IM (1:51.48), William Christenson taking the crown in the 1000 free (9:20.39) and Neil Simpson touching the wall first in the 200 breast (2:03.63) on senior night at Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center.

The Badger men have started their season 2-1, while the women, like the Gophers, are unbeaten thus far in 2023-24. The men most recently beat Arizona and Michigan in a tri-meet, while the women also prevailed against the Wildcats and Wolverines in addition to a victory against Notre Dame to start the season.