To kick off a rivalry-centered week for UNC athletics, the North Carolina swim and dive program notched an impressive pair of wins in Durham, posting a dominant 219-80 men's clip and thrilling 152.5-147.5 women's triumph over Duke on Friday.
Entering their final dual-meet of the season, the Tar Heels sought to rebound after suffering program-wide losses in Charlottesville last week. While the Blue Devil men came into action 0-4, Duke’s women were owners of a formidable 4-1 record.
On the men’s side, North Carolina was in the driver’s seat for the entirety of the evening. Capturing 14 of 16 events and accumulating the largest point total against Duke since 2001, the team was firing on all cylinders against the winless opposition.
First-year standout Ben Delmar put together a particularly notable performance across his breaststroke events. In the 200 yard contest, Delmar amassed a commanding 6.38 second margin of victory along with a 1:56.09 finish. His dominance carried over to the 100, where the rookie recorded a 0:54.29 time in lane 4.
Also in his Duke-rivalry debut, first-year Keith Williams took care of business in the distance-free races. Standing atop the standings in the 500 and 1,000 yard freestyle, Williams enjoyed comfortable leads over his teammates sophomore Jack Donovan and first-year Craig Bohlman as North Carolina consistently topped the leaderboards.
The shorter, sprint-style events were also dominated by the Tar Heels. First-place contributions from sophomore Louis Dramm in the 200 free, junior Walker Davis in the 100 backstroke, senior Patrick Hussey in the 200 butterfly, sophomore Tyler Robertson in the 50 free, junior Matthew Van Deusen in the 200 free, first-year Colin Whelehan in the 200 back, and senior Boyd Polke in the 100 fly solidified a no-doubt victory for the men, who improved to 5-2 on the season.
For the women, Friday’s matchup was one of greater intensity and much smaller room for error.
Key individual event wins were paramount in bolstering UNC’s point total early. Graduate and UNC-Asheville transfer Delaney Carlton took home the 100 free while graduate Ellie VanNote notched the 100 butterfly. In a runaway, sophomore Lily Reader finished over seven seconds ahead of the field to claim the 1000 yard free.
However, it was the relays that guaranteed the Tar Heels a dramatic, down-to-the-wire finish. To open competition, a 200-yard medley swam by Carlton, VanNote, junior Greer Pattison and junior Skyler Smith set the table for a clutch, must-win 400-yard free effort from Pattison, Carlton, sophomore Madeline Smith and junior Elizabeth Sowards in the last event.
