Navy Men and Women Topple UMBC Retrievers

UMBC V. Navy

On Friday, the Navy men and women swept the UMBC Retrievers at Lejeune Hall in Annapolis. The Navy women won 15 of 16 events while the Navy men won 12 events.

In the women’s meet, UMBC’s lone women’s champion, Hania Moro, won the 1000 free by 13 seconds with a time of 10:12.70.  She’s already well-ahead of her pace from last season, where against Navy she was 10:14.99. Moro is the Egyptian National Record holder in the 400 and 800 free, and won America East conference titles in both the 500 and 1650 frees last year.

Moro then swam in the 200 free less than 20 minutes later, touching in third at 1:51.79, just behind Navy’s Lauren Barber (1:49.66) and Martina Thomas (1:49.96). Later on in the meet, Thomas won the 100 free with a time of 52.16. UMBC’s Tonia Papapertrou took second at 52.90.

The women’s 500 free featured a face-off between UMBC’s Moro and Navy’s Thomas. The two ladies were dead even during the front half of the race. Moro then began to fall off Thomas’ pace in the second half. However, Moro then came back on the last 50 in an effort to out-touch Thomas. In the end, it was Thomas who took her second victory of the meet with a time of 4:57.16. Moro finished in second with a time of 4:57.77.

The Navy women also had a second double-winner in the women’s 200 breast. Barber, won previously won the 200 free, dominated the 200 breast and won by over 7 seconds with a time of 2:18.47.

The Navy women then exhibitioned the last 3 events to seal their victory over UMBC with a final score of 185-107.

In the men’s meet, the first 2 events had very close races with heavy effort from the UMBC Retrievers.

In the men’s 200 medley relay, Navy led the majority of the race. UMBC’s Ilia Rattsev then dove in with a blistering 19.77 50 free split to just miss defeating Navy. The Navy men won with a time of 1:30.79, UMBC took second at 1:30.96.

The next close race was between Navy’s Luke Johnson and UMBC’s Kai Wisner in the 1000 free. Johnson and Wisner took turns leading throughout the 40-lap race. It wasn’t until the finish at the wall that Navy’s Johnson took the win with a time of 9:23.23. Wisner took second at 9:23.50. Johnson also had a second victory in the 500 free (4:35.56).

After the medley relay, UMBC’s Russian sprinter Rattsev came back in the 200 free to almost even split his race and win with a time of 1:40.32. Navy’s Ryan Waters was out-touched and settled for second with 1:40.58.

Rattsev then went on to sweep the men’s sprint races, winning both the 50 free (20.85) and the 100 free (45.91). Rattsev and teammate Tiago Asakawa also went a 1-2 Retriever finish in the 50 free. Asakawa’s time was a 21.14. Navy’s Zachary Piedt settled for third in the 50 free and second in the 100 free behind the UMBC sprinters.

The Navy men exhibitioned their 400 free relay to also seal their victory over UMBC 198-100.

Other Meet Highlights:

  • Navy’s James Wilson had double wins in the 100 back (49.39) and 100 fly (50.40)
  • UMBC’s 4th men’s victory was Alexander Gilese in the 200 back (1:48.28)

The Navy Midshipmen return to competition next Friday as they host Johns Hopkins and William and Mary. The next day, the UMBC Midshipmen return to the pool and will also host William and Mary.

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SwimCoachDad
5 years ago

I see results like this and I wonder why Navy (and Army for that matter) isn’t in the ACC. Yes, I understand that the service academies aren’t for everyone but at this point, Navy has 45 swimmers and divers on full rides on their men’s side and 41 on the women’s side so no financial barrier for their recruiting. Being at the academies is tough, no doubt, and not like being a student/athlete anywhere else because you have the academic rigors and the athletic requirements but also the military requirements on top of that. I understand it is harder but the type of people there are supposedly capable of handling all three sides of life there. It just seems that… Read more »

About Nick Pecoraro

Nick Pecoraro

Nick has had the passion for swimming since his first dive in the water in middle school, immediately falling for breaststroke. Nick had expanded to IM events in his late teens, helping foster a short, but memorable NCAA Div III swim experience at Calvin University. While working on his B.A. …

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