Tar Heels cruise in the pool

UNC’s swimming and diving teams blew past Bucknell and Brown on Wednesday, cruising to a double dual victory.

The men started off by winning 14 straight events, defeating Brown 158 to 124 and Bucknell 167 to 124.

On the women’s side, the Tar Heels posted a 151 to 145 victory against Brown and a 180 to 116 score against Bucknell.

The women had the fastest times in 14 of the 16 events. Eleven different women posted victories.

“We just came back from our Las Vegas training trip, and we really needed a meet to race when we’re tired and before some tougher competition,” said women’s captain Virginia Hanson.

Due to the quick start, UNC coach Frank Comfort exhibitioned or sat out many of the top swimmers and allowed young faces opportunities to compete.

Freshmen Brandon Suddreth, Zach Swartz and Philip Owen took advantage of their chances and had the top times in the 1,000-,

100- and 500-yard freestyles. Owen did not win his event as he was an exhibition swimmer.

Sophomores Casey Kott and Tristan Davidson swam top times in two events for UNC. Kott won both the 100 breaststroke and 200 medley.

Kott said that although his body wasn’t feeling 100 percent, he swam well.

“We’ve come together and are a lot more motivated than last year, but a lot of people are babying injuries just a little too much,” Kott said. “We just need to suck it up and maintain a positive attitude the next couple of weeks.”

Kott also said he hopes to finish top five in an event for the ACC as an individual goal.

Davidson placed first in the 200 butterfly and had the fastest time in the 100 butterfly as an exhibition swimmer.

For the women, freshmen Kelsey Morrissy and Lindsey Marck won the 50 and 100 freestyles. Junior Lizzy Bruce was a double winner for the women in the 100 breaststroke and 200 individual medley.

In the last five men’s swimming events and the last four women’s events, UNC did not compete and only swam exhibition.

UNC’s diving team also exhibitioned its events, with the men not competing in the 3-meter board and the women in the 1-meter board.

Freshman diver Ben Herboth won the men’s 1-meter dive and had the best score in the 3-meter as an exhibition diver.

Brown diver Jessica Larsen posted an upset by winning the women’s 3-meter board. UNC’s Kate Lewis, Lauren Karatanevski and Gia Santoro rounded out the top four, respectively.

The Tar Heels face ACC opposition Saturday at Clemson in what figures to be a tough meet.

UNC hopes to carry on its success into the weekend and improve upon its rankings.

“It will be really demanding for our men,” Comfort said.

“We tied them for the first time ever last year. But we came back from a difficult training trip and got some work done with victories under our belt.”

Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.