NCAA Swim Meet of the Week
It is officially February and the regular season is about over for the majority of the NCAA schools across the country. The Pac-12 has a few late-season showdowns that will be heavily hyped rivalries right before the conference championships, but the east coast teams finished their duel meet schedules this past weekend. Teams are starting to buckle down as they get into the meat of their tapers before conference championships, with the SEC meet being the first one in Division I set for February 18 with the 200 medley and 800 free relays.
Our NCAA Swim Meet of the Week focus on teams (Tennessee, UC San Diego) that have their best teams on campus this season and look to be contending for potential national titles in 2020.
NCAA Swim Meet of the Week Division I: Tennessee Sweeps Florida; Is This The Year for the Vols?
Erika Brown could close out her Tennessee career with an SEC team title. Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
It is hard to believe that the Tennessee women’s swimming and diving has never won an SEC team title. The Volunteers have been strong on relays for years and recently have broken out as a consistent national top ten program. But the team has never been able to raise a team title banner. That could all change in 2020. Texas A&M has dominated the conference as of late, winning four straight. But the Aggies don’t have the pieces to win a fifth straight, leaving the crown up for the taking this year.
The team title will likely come down between Florida, Georgia or Tennessee. The Bulldogs last won in 2015. The Gators last won in 2009. The Volunteers have never won.
Tennessee and Florida met in the final regular season meet of the year with the #4 Vols coming out on top of the #8 Gators 170.5 – 129.5 in Knoxville. Tennessee actually has not lost a duel meet all season, including taking down Florida and Georgia in head to head matches; that could be the confidence the team needs to win the SEC meet.
Last season Tennessee had a strong team that was in line to win SECs, but they only managed fourth. But this year they return seniors Erika Brown and Meghan Small, as well as key pieces in Tess Cieplucha and Amanda Nunan.
Brown is extremely valuable to the team, capable of swimming in any of the five relays. The question is ‘which one do you rest her for?’ She is one of the top sprinters in the country, winning the 100 free on Saturday with a 48.51, and is also capable of a strong 200 free, swimming a 1:45.8 over the weekend. Add in the 51.9 100 fly she swam and she is dynamite.
Fellow senior Meghan Small has been one of the unsung heroes. She was originally recruited as a 400 IM’er but has emerged as a strong backstroker for the team, swimming the lead off on the 200 medley relay. She still is a good IM’er, winning the 200 on Saturday with a 1:57.22 over Florida’s Vanessa Pearl (1:59.1), and has also been a key leg on many of their relays, including last year’s national title in the 200 medley.
Amanda Nunan broke the Tennessee school record in the 1000 with a 9:37.08 and also won the 500 at 4:44.67, giving the Vols wins in both events. She has emerged as one of the top distance swimmers in the nation with that 1650 title being up for grabs this season with the graduation of defending champ Ally McHugh.
Tennessee doesn’t really seem to have a weak spot with the exception of maybe the 100 back depending on if Small swims it at SECs or NCAAs. But they are strong enough in all five relays that those weaknesses won’t seem to be a liability for them. Tennessee has never won SECs and that streak may end this year. But why stop there? They have been as high as third in NCAAs and with no clear favorite in the country right now, why not Tennessee? The stars may have perfectly aligned for the Vols to win an NCAA title with Small and Brown in their senior seasons, as well as Alexis Yager and Cieplucha coming into their own as All-American contenders. It will be a fight, and if Tennessee can come out of SECs with a win, then they will be hard to stop come NCAAs.
Vanessa Pearl and the Gators will not be going anywhere but up anytime soon. Photo Courtesy: Connor Trimble
Tennessee scored a good win over the Gators, who have come back to life after scoring zero points at NCAAs just three years ago. Florida was at one point ranked number one in the country but have since dropped to number eight. Which is not a bad thing, it just shows that the “rebuilding” is not quite finished yet, but they are in line for a top ten finish at NCAAs. Sherridon Dressel has been huge for the Gators all season long, and proved that on Saturday with a win in the 100 back (52.02) and a third place in the 100 fly (52.76).
Sophomore Vanessa Pearl also won the 200 breast (2:10.51) and was second in the 200 IM (1:59.1) and 100 breast (1:01.4). After having a disappointing freshman NCAAs, she has come into her own as a top performer for the Gators this season. Rosie Zavaros was the only other Gator to win an individual event with a 1:56.4 in the 200 back. Florida will not be going anywhere anytime soon; they have a young core led by Pearl and Zavaros, who are both sophomores, that should be tough to beat as they grow in the coming years.
The Florida men have won the last seven SEC team titles, but also took a loss to Tennessee on Saturday, giving the Vols a sweep of the Gators for the first time in school history.
Is this the year for the Tennessee men as well? They haven’t won SECs since 1996 and are currently ranked #12 while Florida is #9. The hype of swimming at home and on senior day may have been the edge that the Vols needed to dethrone their rivals from down south, but they still have a strong team in a wide open SEC right now. They got big swims out of some of the nation’s top sprinters in Alec Connolly in the 50 free (19.77), Michael Houlie in the 100 breast (53.68) and Matthew Garcia in the 100 back (47.56). Transfer Kayky Mota also came up big with a win in the 200 fly (1:47.31) as the Vols won 156 – 144.
Florida was hit big with transfers last year, losing Maxime Rooney and also losing Trey Freeman to a redshirt this year. Nonetheless, Kieran Smith has stepped up in a big way for them this season, scoring a 1000 (9:01.86)/200 free (1:35.97) double on Saturday. Smith was originally recruited as an IM’er out of high school but has stepped out as a middle distance freestyler this season and could find himself on the 2020 Olympic Team for the United States this season.
Olympic hopeful Bobby Finke did not swim over the weekend as he looks to be the frontrunner in the 1650 this season, leaving some points on the table for the Gators. But he should be ready come SEC’s in a couple weeks.
Both Tennessee and Florida should vie for top ten finishes at NCAAs this season, and could also be the teams to win the SEC this year.
NCAA Swim Meet of the Week Division II: UC San Diego Ready to Dethrone Queens?
Marko Djordjevic could end Queens’ five-year NCAA title streak this year. Photo Courtesy: Twitter, @UCSDSwimDive
UC San Diego vs. Cal Baptist Results
The Queens women have won the last five NCAA Division II swimming and diving titles in dominating fashion, culminating with nearly 800 points from last year’s team as they destroyed the competition. But that streak may come to an end this year as UC San Diego looks to unseat the champs and win its first national title in school history.
UCSD’s depth this season is insane with the presence of freshmen Juli Arzave, Miranda Renner and Katja Pavicevic as well as sophomores Tina Reuter and Jordan Phillips. There doesn’t appear to be a weakness for this team as they beat former Division II rival California Baptist 158 – 140 over the weekend. Reuter and Pavicevic each won two events apiece with Reuter winning the 200 fly (2:01.48), 200 back (2:00.66) and 400 IM (4:23.29) and Pavicevic won the 100 breast (1:02.49) and 200 breast (2:13.65), and also finished second in the 400 IM (4:24.28).
Division II recruiting can drastically change a team’s chances at a national title and UC San Diego seems to have hit the jackpot the last couple years in that regard. Even with Hall of Fame coach David Marsh stepping down, they have built a team capable of winning it all in five weeks. Head coach Marko Djordjevic has the pieces to do so, they just need to put them together come NCAAs. Queens knows how to win and they will still be considered the favorites until someone takes them down. But that someone could end up being UC San Diego, who looks to be the best team on paper.
The #5 UCSD men narrowly got by Cal Baptist 154 – 141. They don’t quite have the pieces to contend for a national title like their women’s team, but the growing program has certainly become one of the nation’s elite. They do have a deep team led by junior Zack Reuter, who won the 200 free (1:38.79) and 400 IM (3:57.80) on the weekend. Seniors Edgar Chin and Jack Spitzer have helped build the team back into a top ten contender, having not been higher than 10th since 2014 as they were in the top seven for eleven straight seasons leading up to that year. The men’s team had lagged behind the last few years before Marsh helped revive them into the top ten last year. Now they are back in that position and with a young core they should stay there for the next few years.
Division III Meet of the Week: Johns Hopkins Staying Consistent Among the Top Five With Win Over Carnegie Mellon
Photo Courtesy: Emily Cheng
Johns Hopkins vs. Carnegie Mellon results
Johns Hopkins secured two hard-fought road wins with the #5 men beating #10 Carnegie Mellon 135 – 127 while the #4 women beat the #12 Tartans 154 – 108 in this week’s Division III NCAA swim meet of the week.
Carnegie Mellon was spotlighted in an earlier NCAA swim meet of the week this semester and we highlighted their impressive men’s freshmen class that could have a bright future. They showed out well for the Tartans once again this weekend with John McNab winning the 1000 in convincing fashion with a 9:29.84 and he also finished second in the 500 at 4:37.30. Matthew Nagler finished second in the 50 (21.26) and Aleksander Tarczynski finished second in the 200 fly (1:52.07) and 400 IM (4:07.40).
Their efforts were not enough as they fell just short of a huge win over Johns Hopkins. Jeffrey Vitek and Noah Corbitt each picked up two wins for the Blue Jays with Vitek winning the 100 (49.91) and 200 fly (1:50.63) and Corbitt winning the 500 (4:36.81) and 200 free (1:40.92). There has been a big gap between the top three in Division III (Denison, Kenyon, Emory) and the rest of the top ten in the last few years. But that gap seems to be closing. Hopkins doesn’t have the pieces yet to compete with those top three but Vitek and Corbitt are both sophomores and are among the nation’s elite in their respective events. They have been top four every year since 2016 so it is a matter of time before they break into the top three.
The Hopkins women are closer to breaking into the top three. Kate Overbey was the only two-time winner on Saturday as she won the 1000 free (10:41.37) and 200 breast (2:26.75). Elaine Lipkin and Kristen Petersen have also been consistent performers for the Blue Jays this season with Lipkin winning the 400 IM (4:33.87) and finishing second in the 200 fly (2:08.16) on Saturday while Petersen swam on both winning relays for the team.
Hopkins has been another consistent Division III team historically and should be in the top five once again this season. They have the performance history to be able to attract top recruits and could build a team to break into the top three to break up the domination of Denison, Kenyon and Emory.
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