Duke men’s swimming kicked off the 2024-25 season in Arlington, Virginia, on Friday, defeating Marymount 209-52.
The Blue Devils were highlighted by multiple freshmen who made their collegiate debuts, while graduate transfers helped Duke secure multiple podium sweeps.
Duke began the 2024-25 season strong, sweeping the 200 Medley Relay event, as Michael Jiang, Jack Smith, Cameron Lai-Harris, and Milo Shue, clocked a time of 1:31.30 and finished first.
Graduate transfer Yugo Tsukikawa collected his first victory with the Blue Devils in the 1,000 Freestyle, touching with a time of 9:44.27. He was joined by Austin Simpson (9:53.61) and Owen Markowitz (9:57.86) on the podium, as Duke swept the second competition event.
Sophomore Andrew Li picked up where he left off as a freshman, touching in first place with a time of 1:41.99 in the 200 Freestyle, while current freshman Colin Mikulecky finished second with a time of 1:42.90.
Duke swept its third event of the afternoon in the 100 Backstroke, as Jiang (49.99), Jacob Hills (51.41), and Jack Christian (51.51) all finished in order.
Smith and Kalen Anbar followed up the sweep of the 100 Backstroke event, finishing first and second in the 100 Breaststroke. Smith clocked a time of 56.11, while Anbar finished with a time of 57.77.
Freshmen Samir Elkassem and Ethan Mindlin recorded their first Duke events on Friday, as Elkassem finished first in the 200 Butterfly (1:51.66) and Mindlin touched in second (1:58.19).
Shue and Charlie Morici continued to set the tone for the Blue Devils in the 50 Freestyle event, as Shue touched in first with a 20.95 time and Morici clocked a time of 21.56.
Duke added its third sweep of the afternoon in the 100 Freestyle, as Shue clocked a time of 46.31 and finished first, Lai-Harris touched in second with a time of 47.36 and Mikulecky finished third with a time of 47.65.
Hills, Jiang, and Christian followed up the sweep of the 100 Freestyle with a sweep of their own in the 200 Backstroke before Smith, Markowitz, and Li swept the 200 Breaststroke.
In the 500 Freestyle, Simpson swam a time of 4:45.64 to place first, while Mindlin clocked a time of 4:56.37 to finish second.
Freshmen Alex Meyer-Labenz tallied his first podium finish on Friday, touching in third with a time of 52.70 in the 100 Butterfly. He was joined on the podium by Morici and Lai-Harris, who finished one and two.
— The above press release was posted by Swimming World in conjunction with Duke Athletics. For press releases and advertising inquiries please contact Advertising@SwimmingWorld.com.
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