UNC men's and women's swim teams pick up wins against Duke

The UNC women’s and men’s swim teams sweep the hosting Duke Blue Devils in swimming and diving victories, 154-146 and 168-132, respectively.

What happened?

The women’s and men’s swimming and diving team had an impressive showing at Duke’s dual meet on Saturday, managing victories in both the women’s and men’s divisions. The double victory propelled both teams to a dual meet record of 3-3 and 2-4, respectively. 

UNC won a total of 20 out of the 32 events. 

Who stood out? 

The women's and men’s diving teams both had extreme success in their events, with senior Anton Down-Jenkins winning the one and three-meter diving competitions each with nine points. Alexander Hart tailed Down-Jenkins in both events, also winning the Tar Heels four points in the one and three meter dives. 

While the women’s diving team did not run up the lead in the one-meter dive, Aranza Vasquez picked up nine points in the three-meter and four points in the one-meter behind Duke’s Margo O'Meara. Vasquez posted a score of 351.83 in the three-meter dive, earning her place on the podium by over 10 points.  ​​

The women’s relay races also had some impressive showings, with the Tar Heels beating out Duke’s lowest time in the 400-relay by over two seconds. Grace Countie, Sophie Lindner and Amy Dragelin all successfully swam sub-two minute 100s, and Greer Pattison and Duke's Catherine Purnell successfully went sub-one minute. 

The men’s team did not have the same success in the relay, but took home a medley of victories in individual events, including the 500 free, 100 back, 100 breast, 1,000 free, 100 free and 200 free. Ellie VanNote and Boyd Poelke made big strides towards victory after claiming first place in both butterfly events for the women’s and men’s teams, respectively. Ellie Van Note beat out her nearest competitor by over one second in the 100 butterfly. 

When was it decided?

The UNC men’s cohort was taking some big individual victories over the course of the night in a lot of the individual events, which made their victory a pretty promising prospect from the start. Those early wins and Down-Jenkins’ victories in both diving events definitely contributed to attaining that divisive 36-point margin of victory. 

The women’s prowess in the relay races undoubtedly made up for maybe some not as strong showings in some of the individual events, like the 200 free, which made for a closer point margin but some high time differences in events like the 100 fly. 

Why does it matter?

Coming out of the dual meet season, the men’s team only had one other victory against Queens College in Charlotte – with some hard losses against competition like the Georgia Bulldogs, N.C. State, and Georgia Tech. Especially as the season heads into invitationals and the ACC Championships, the men’s showing on Friday was an inspiring finale after a four-meet losing streak. Even though they still have a losing record at 2-4, the men’s team beating a big opponent like Duke is promising.

The women’s team also had some tough losses, and the victory in Duke’s dual meet raises their record to 3-3 in the dual meet season. Duke’s women’s team was in no means an easy opponent. In fact, Duke junior Sarah Foley ended up breaking school records that night in the 100 breast. Especially going into the ACC championships, perhaps some of these smaller victories by the UNC women’s team will translate into some fast swimming in Atlanta in two weeks. 

When do they play next?

While this marks the end of the dual meet season, the UNC women’s team will be swimming again in a meet against the University of Texas Longhorns on Jan. 29, and both teams will head to Atlanta in early March for the ACC Championships in Diving from the 5th through the 8th, and swimming from Mar. 16-Mar. 26. 

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