KEY LARGO – The fun-filled Orange Bowl Swimming Classic is back for yet another year of great training trip competition with Michigan and Duke both slated to be in attendance.
The meet, set for Saturday, Jan. 3, at the Jacobs Aquatic Center, is a staple of every Florida winter training trip. The sprint-style meet is part of a month-long Orange Bowl training session for collegiate teams, which begins Dec. 10 this year.
This year, teams like Duke, Michigan, George Mason as well as other squads from West Virginia, Vermont, Connecticut, Minnesota and California will be on hand.
According to the Orange Bowl Swimming Classic:
“Admission is free to watch the competition, expected to start at noon and continue until 2 p.m. In addition, spectators can interact with swimmers and coaches during warm ups that begin at 10 a.m. and at a post-meet awards social and dinner (reservations required).”
Keep an eye out on Swimming World for full event coverage of the meet in January.
Last year, the Michigan men and women dominated the Orange Bowl Swimming Classic.
The Michigan Wolverines swim teams won all but two of the 24 events contested last time out.
Michigan raced against squads from West Virginia, George Mason, Vermon, St. Leo and Florida International in the short course meters meet at the Jacobs Aquatic Center.
Marni Oldershaw, Bruno Ortiz and Ali DeLoof each won two events. Oldershaw won the 100 breast in 1:12.22 over teammate Angie Chokran’s 1:12.30, and took the 200 IM with a 2:16.47. She almost won the 50 breast with a 33.07, but Chokran got to the wall first with a 33.03.
Ortiz won two splash-and-dash events, taking the 50 breast in 28.07 and the 50 free in 23.10. DeLoof also won a couple of 50s, placing first in the 50 back with a 28.69 after splitting a meet-record 28.36 on the medley relay, then winning the 50 free with a 26.60.
The only swimmer not from Michigan to win was West Virginia’s Bryce Bohman, who took the 50 and 100 backstrokes. Bohman, who currently stands fifth in the collegiate standings in the 100-yard backstroke, posted a 25.36 in the 50 back and 55.89 in the 100 back.
Connor Jaeger won the men’s 400 free with a 3:55.62, while Kelsey Cummings took the women’s version in 4:17.95. In the other longer-distance event of the day, Kyle Whitaker won the men’s 200 IM with a 2:03.37.