Courtesy: Pitt Athletics
PITTSBURGH — The University of Pittsburgh swimming & diving programs will begin its 2021-22 campaigns with two unique meets against local opponents. The weekend will kick off Friday night with a diving meet against Duquesne at 6:30 p.m., followed by the annual relays-only meet versus Carnegie Mellon at 11 a.m. Saturday morning. Both events will take place at Trees Pool and be available for streaming on ACCNX.
Entering his sixth season as the head coach of the Pitt swimming & diving programs, John Hargis is looking forward to building off the energy of last week’s intra-squad Blue vs. Gold meet.
“I’m excited for racing to get started this season,” Hargis said. “We saw a lot of really good swims last week that we are excited about. We do this meet every year and it’s always fun to have a unique and local meet to give the kids racing opportunities and kick off the season.”
Fifth-year Pitt diving coach Katie Kasprzak is eager to see the last few months of training translate into competition throughout the entire roster.
“We’ve got a lot of depth in the team this year,” Kasprzak said. “Everybody will be fighting for those point positions which is not just really exciting, but it will put us in a good spot for the back end of the season. We’ve spent the last few months grinding hard and I am looking forward to seeing the start of their performance.”
The 2020-21 season saw Pitt swimming & diving break seven school records and reach numerous program milestones including the most ACC medals in school history (4) and 2 NCAA All-Americans – the first time since 1985 that the Panthers had two in one season (Sue Heon – 400 IM, Susan Hickman – 50 Free).
Pitt’s roster is now led by a total of 16 seniors – seven women and six men. Among those seniors are 2x Bronze ACC Medalist and NCAA All-American Cooper Van der Laan. Van der Laan currently holds the school record for the 100 and 200 Breast, as well as being internationally ranked 45th globally and fourth in Australia in the 100 Breast. On the women’s side, Amy Read is looking to secure her fourth NCAA diving appearance. Read holds the Pitt program record in platform diving and earned CSCAA Scholar All-American accolades. Both Van der Laan and Read represented Pitt in the 2021 All-ACC Academic Team last season.
The Panthers will also see as many as 20 freshmen make their collegiate debuts throughout the weekend.
Pitt vs. Duquesne Diving | Order of Events
Women’s 1M
Men’s 3M
Women’s 3M
Men’s 1M
Pitt vs. Carnegie Mellon Relays | Order of Events
200 Medley
Freestyle Crescendo
3×100 Fly
3×100 Breaststroke
3×100 Backstroke
4×100 Individual Medley
200 Free
Admission is free to all fans for both events.
Hargis isn’t benefiting any of his swimmers if they keep having these childish meets against teams that aren’t even close to their level. Shows just how scared he is to go against actual teams.