Northwestern's seventh-ranked men's swimming team nearly swept Wisconsin out of the Norris Aquatic Center, winning every event except for the last event of the meet, the 400 freestyle relay, en route to a 142-97 victory on Friday afternoon. On the women's side, the Badgers were victorious 129-114.
Senior Mike Alexandrov and reigning Big Ten Swimmer of the Week Eric Nilsson (Weston, Mass./Weston) led the way for the 'Cats, as both claimed victory in three different events throughout the meet. Andrea Hupman (Lawrenceville, Ga./Brookwood) and Kassia Shishkoff (Raleigh, N.C./St. David's School) once again led the way for the Wildcats, each winning two events. Shishkoff pulled away after the first 250 yards in the 1000 free, winning the event by over 11 seconds with a time of 9:54.22. Sophomore Yi Ting Siow led the Wisconsin swimming and diving teams Friday night as she claimed the 200 individual medley and 200 breaststroke events
The 'Cats began the night on a positive note, winning the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:31.40 and jumping out to a lead they would never relinquish. The quartet of Matt Grevers (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest), John Franklin (Fort Lauderdale, Fla./North Broward Prep), Kyle Bubolz (Waukesha, Wis./Waukesha North) and Jimmy Sourbeer (Des Moines, Iowa/Dowling Catholic) combined for the victory.
Alexandrov jumped out to an early lead in the first individual event of the night, the 1000 free, swimming the opening 50 yards in 24.50 seconds and then held off all challengers, winning with a time of 9:33.50.
Nilsson followed suit in the 200 free, winning with a time of 1:38.89. The sophomore's time was 2.28 seconds faster than the second-place finisher, Wisconsin's Mike Desautels.
After Grevers made it four victories in a row with a win in the 50 free, Alexandrov came from the middle of the pack in the 200 IM, using a strong breast-stroke leg to pull in front and claim the come-from-behind victory with a time of 1:51.99.
Following the first break, Nilsson once again mimicked Alexandrov's performance. In third after the first 50 yards of the 200 fly, Nilsson swam past his competition and finished with a time of 1:49.40 to earn a one-second victory.
Bruno Barbic (Zagreb, Croatia/V. Gimnazija) got in on the act next, winning the hotly-contested 100 free with a time of 45.37.
Grevers pushed the victory total to eight when he swam an NCAA "B" time of 1:46.78 in the 200 back. Before the second break, Nilsson cruised in the 500 free, winning his third event with an impressive time of 4:30.92.
Alexandrov put on a dominating performance in the final individual event of the night, the 200 breast, finishing nearly seven seconds ahead of the second-place finisher, Wisconsin's Eric Johnson.
Junior Ryan McIntosh (Louisville, Ky./Trinity) swept the diving events for the 'Cats, winning the 1-meter board with a score of 331.05 and the 3-meter board with a 344.25 score.
Wisconsin finally got its first victory of the night in the meet's final event, the 400 freestyle relay.
Hupman won the 200 free. Hupman's winning time of 1:49.61 was only .56 seconds off of the pool record and meeting the NCAA "B" standard.
Following the first break in the meet, freshman Rachel Rys (Goleta, Calif./Dos Pueblos) busted out to win the first event of her collegiate career. Rys controlled the action in the 200 fly, never trailing while posting a time of 2:01.51.
Hupman then came through with her second win of the meet, but this time she also broke her own pool record. Hupman's blistering time of 49.99 in the 100 free bested her own pool record of 50.12 and was also an NCAA "B" time.
Hupman was not the only one to break a Norris Aquatics Center pool record. Wisconsin's Yi Ting Siow swam a time of 2:11.91 in the 200 breast to beat former NU swimmer Amy Balcerzak's time of 2:12.34 set in 2000.
Siow won the 200 IM in 2:02.12 seconds and also finished first in the 200 breaststroke with a mark of 2:11.91.
Other winners for the Wisconsin women included Jackie Vavrek in the 50 freestyle (23.50), Kasey Carpenter in the 200 backstroke (2:00.29) and the 200 medley relay. The 200 back proved to be the most dominant race for the Badgers. Senior Susan Johnson followed Carpenter by 1/10th of a second to finish in a time of 2:00.30 and Candice Peak came in third (2:04.21).
On the boards, Jenny Hawkins won the 3-meter event with a score of 292.43 and also took second on the 1-meter (254.85).
The men claimed one race against Northwestern, winning the 400 freestyle relay in a time of 3:03.33. Swimming for the Badgers was Mike Desautels, Tom Molzahn, Kyle Sorensen and Phil Davies.
