Pitt Dominates West Virginia in Swimming Edition of Backyard Brawl
Pitt held its senior day Saturday as longtime rival West Virginia was in town for the annual edition of the Backyard Brawl. The Panther women won 182-116, and on the men’s side, the final score was 183-115 in favor of Pitt.
Pitt’s Jacqueline Tinneny earned wins in the 1000 freestyle (10:09.80) and 500 freestyle (4:56.67). Claire Jensen won the 100 backstroke (55.48) and 200 backstroke (2:01.52), and her fellow freshman Kate Bailey won the 100 butterfly (56.42) and 200 butterfly (2:03.07).
Marcin Goraj was the top performer for the Panther men as he won the 200 free (1:37.36) and 200 back (1:44.97), and he handled the butterfly leg of Pitt’s 200 medley relay, joining with Krzysztof Radziszewski, Cooper Van Der Laan and Dominic Toledo Sanchez to win in 1:26.96. Radziszewski also won the 100 back (48.59), and Van Der Laan led a 1-2-3 sweep in the 100 breaststroke (53.42). Adam Mahler took first in the 100 fly (48.52) and 200 fly (1:47.09).
Full results are available here, and read the press release about the Pitt women’s performance below:
The Pitt women’s swimming and diving team dominated the pool, defeating West Virginia 182-116 during its senior meet early Saturday afternoon at Trees Pool. The Panthers won 11 of 16 events to improve to 43-6 all-time against the Mountaineers.
The Panthers totaled two 1-2-3 finishes and added three more 1-2 finished en route to their Senior Meet win.
“Our women’s team did a fantastic job of racing tough across the board today,” said head coach Chase Kreitler. “This was a total team effort between divers and swimmers to send our seniors off with a win in the Backyard Brawl. We are one week removed from a great two week altitude training camp in Colorado Springs, so today was less about trying to hit certain times and more about racing tough and executing details that will make us a sharper team at ACC’s. We are really excited for the rest of the season!”
The women’s diving team picked up where they left off Friday night, as Pitt finished 1-2-3 in the women’s 1-meter. Freshman Rachel Dickerson claimed first with a score of 274.28, sophomore Jess Vega came in second with a score of 269.78 and junior Emma Gravgaard finished third with a score of 260.18.
After celebrating their 2023 class, the Panthers got off to a hot start with a first-place finish in the 200-yard medley relay. The relay team of Claire Jansen, Tatum Detwiler, Sophie Yendell and Kate Fuhrmann finished first with a time of 1:40.66.
Pitt followed by finishing in the top three spots in the women’s 1000-yard free with Jacqueline Tinneny coming in first (10:09.80), Tess Mock coming in second (10:15.43), Ece Tanriverdi finishing in third (10:16.49).
Tinneny added another event win in the 500-yard freestyle, finishing with an overall time of 4:56.67.
Jansen continued the momentum for the Panthers, taking two first place finishes in the 100-yard back (55.48) and in the 200-yard back (2:01.52).
Pitt dominated the 50-yard freestyle with Yendell (23.09) and Fuhrmann (23.71) taking first and second place, respectively.
Freshman Kate Bailey shined with two individual wins in the 100-yard butterfly (56.42) and 200-yard butterfly (2:03.07). Fellow classmate Olivia Yoo (56.69) and sophomore Avery McFaddin (56.69) tied for second for another Pitt top-three finish in the 100-yard butterfly. Yoo garnered another second-place finish to teammate, Bailey, in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:04.03.
Yasemine Safargar capped off the Panthers dominate weekend with a first-place finish in the 400-yard individual medley with a time of (4:28.21).
Read the full press release about the Pittsburgh men’s team below:
The Pitt men’s swimming and diving team were dominate in their 183-115 win over West Virginia during its senior meet at Trees Pool early Saturday afternoon. The Panthers won 11 of 16 events to improve to 43-16 all-time against the Mountaineers.
The Panthers totaled two 1-2-3 finishes and added three 1-2 finishes over the two-day meet, en route to their Senior Day win.
“Our men’s team did a great job of competing on the boards and in the pool against WVU,” said head coach Chase Kreitler. “We had a lot of different people step up and get event wins to help us send our seniors out with a win in the Backyard Brawl. Rivalries are one of the most fun parts of college athletics and it was fun to see some great races in what was the last home meet of the year for most of the team. We are really looking forward to championship season!”
Senior Cooper Van der Laan (53.42), senior Jerry Chen (53.93) and freshman Nick Short (56.40) finished 1-2-3 in the 100-yard breaststroke. The Panthers’ 1-2 finishes came in the 100-yard backstroke and the 200-yard butterfly. Sophomore Krzysztof Radziszewski (48.59) and freshman Derek Zhang (48.75) finished first and second, respectively, in the 100-yard backstroke while senior Adam Mahler (1:47.09) and Javier Zorzano (1:51.92) finished first and second, respectively, in the 200-yard butterfly.
Mahler picked up another first place finished in the 100-yard butterfly (48.52) as Chen claimed first in the 200-yard breaststroke (1:58.58).
Senior Dylan Reed helped propel the men’s diving team, garnering first place finishes in both the men’s 1-meter (348.20) and 3-meter (402.70). The Panthers finished 1-2-3 in the men’s 3-meter as Reed claimed first, senior Josh Parquet came in second with a score of 327.68 and junior Jackson Salisbury finished third with a score of 317.78.
After celebrating their 2023 class, the Panthers got off to a hot start with a first-place finish in the 200-yard medley relay. The relay team of Radziszewski, Van der Laan, junior Marcin Goraj and senior Dominic Toledo finished first with a time of 1:26.96.
Goraj continued the momentum for the Panthers, taking two first individual first place finishes in the 200-yard freestyle (1:37.36) and in the 200-yard backstroke (1:44.97).
Senior Wojciech Dutkowiak found success in the distance events, claiming first in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:33.56 and second in the 1000-yard freestyle with a time of 9:39.41.