While the USC Women were at the SMU Classic, the USC men were fighting out-of-conference foe NC State. Both Arizona teams opened their season as well in a two-day dual against Hawaii.
Trojan Men Defeat NC State
In their season opener against NC State on Saturday, the USC men put up a strong showing to win, 173-119. Senior Alex Lendrum proved he’ll be a big leader for the team in the backstroke events, getting the 200 medley relay off to a good start with a 22.59 leadoff leg. On the other end of that relay (which won in a 1:28.98) was Venezuelan Olympian sophomore Cristian Quintero. Quintero proved here that he’s not one to succumb to a sophomore slump, winning the 100, 200 and 500 free.
The Trojan freshmen gave the team a lot to be excited about, led by Morten Klarskov who won both breaststrokes in 55.66 and 1:59.01. Ted Singley also picked up an event win in the 1000 free, going 9:18.98 to lead a sweep.
Of note, Vlad Morozov and Dmitri Colupaev were both absent from this meet; like many, they are sitting out the fall semester (though they are still training).
Arizona Women Beat Hawaii
This teams roster has been shaken up quite a bit due to several transfers in and out, but they proved they’re no worse for wear, defeating Hawaii in a two-day dual meet. Despite losing a few of their best sprinters, they’ve still got decent depth in their sprint relays. Their 200 free relays took first and second, in 1:33.05 and 1:33.42. Three of the eight girls broke 23, one of which was Margo Geer’s leadoff leg. Geer won both individual sprint events as well in 22.75 and 48.88.
Their freshman class showed up well for their first collegiate competition. Bonnie Brandon won the 200 IM, 400 IM, and 200 back and breaststroker Emma Schoettner won both breaststrokes in 1:02.8 and 2:13.5, both great swims for this early in the season. Leticia Lelli won the 200 free.
Senior Lauren Smart led the team with victories in the 100 back and 100 fly, going 54.96 in the back and an almost identical 55.06 in the fly. Junior Samantha Pickens earned big points in the diving events, winning both the 1m and the 3m.
Arizona Men Defeat Hawaii
On the men’s side, defending NCAA champion sophomore Kevin Cordes led the team to a victory against Hawaii as well. Cordes won the 100 and 200 breast in 55.3 and 2:02.6. He also helped secure wins in both medley relays. Senior Nimrod Shapira Bar-Or also recorded double wins in the 200 and 400 IM. He was also crucial on relays, turning in a 44.6 on the anchor of the 400 medley to help the team there.
The men also swept the relays, with an upper-classmen heavy 200 free relay going 1:22.5 after all their swimmers split under 21.
The only freshman on the men’s team to win an event was diver Rafael Quintero, who won the 3m.
Did vlad morozov not swim?
Sorry, I had info on that, forgot to share with Jenny. Will go back and add, but no Vlad and Colupaev are both taking the semester off.
Klarskov, a 20 year old freshman?
I certainly don’t want to take anything away from how well USC swam, but if you look at the history of how Salo’s teams swim in season, it’s usually pretty fast. I was very surprised at just how fast they swam, especially on the women’s side. Tosky, Stewart, Carlson, and the 2 IMers were extremely fast.
Teams like Texas, Florida, and even Cal don’t typically swim very fast in season. We all know they will be there come conference and NCAAs, but don’t usually put up mind blowing times until February.
USC Men looked great at meet on Saturday. Currently have #1 season best times (ok, I know it’s early but most of big teams have times up now!) in 200 Breast and 200 Back, #2 season best in 200 Free & 100 Fly and top 8 times in 100/1000 free, 100 back, 100 breast, 200 Fly & 400 IM. Haven’t swum 500/1650 Free or 200 IM.
And NO, they were not rested or suited up…..Next meet for USC Men is Nov 8 vs. AZ & Nov 9 vs ASU. Those Pac-12 rivalries will bring out the “suits” I’m guessing….
Oops, got the dates wrong….Nov 9th is USC vs. AZ and Nov 10th is USC vs ASU