Records fell and new personal bests were set as the University of Pittsburgh swimming and diving teams continued their success at the Pitt Invitational with a dominant second day of competition. Sophomore Kinga Cichowska and freshman Meme Sharp each etched new marks into the all-time school record books.
"I'm always surprised to see a school record, but after we saw how well the kids were swimming yesterday, we expected to see some really great performances," said Coach Knoles. "I wasn't really expecting a school record, but I was really excited to see Kinga (Cichowska) and Meme (Sharp). It was really fun."
In the morning prelims, Cichowska's 1:01.16 in the 100-yd breaststroke both broke her own Pitt record (1:01.61) and qualified for an NCAA B cut. That freshly-set mark would last less than 12 hours, as she once again broke her own record in that event with her winning time of 1:01.12 in the finals.
Sharp's 342.45 in the 3-meter diving competition easily eclipsed Jamie Tomazich's score of 321.60 - a record that had stood since 1999.
"I just tried to calm myself down and let it happen," said Sharp. "I was so pumped. I look at my scores (between dives) and calculate how many points I need to get my best or to move up. My last dive, I only needed 37 points and it's a pretty good dive for me. I was so excited. I was smiling underwater."
Other women's team swimmers met with personal success as well. Junior Blair Wegescheide swam a team season-best 54.33 in the 100-yd back during prelims, crushing her own previous season-best of 57.00 and qualifying for an NCAA B cut. She would go on to win the event which included a Championship Final field with five other Panther swimmers - all of whom set personal season-bests.
Freshman Amanda Richey (1:50.31) led a one-two-three finish for the Panthers in the 200-yd free and took first in the 400 IM with a new team season-best time (4:21.70).
The men were led by sophomore Zach Lierley's first place finish and season-best time of 3:52.82 in the 400 IM. The mark crushed his previous best this year (3:57.58) and made an NCAA B cut. Senior Luke Nosbisch also posted a B cut time of 55.25 in the 100 Breast, setting a new team season-best in the process. Junior David Sweeney posted the fastest team and personal time in the 200 free this season (1:39.19).
"It's a tough three-day meet," said Coach Knoles. "We try to put a lot stress on the kids on a weekend like this because they perform better when we get to the ACC's or our conference championship at the end of the year. I expect some really great swims tomorrow."
The Pitt Invitational concludes, Sunday, Nov. 23, with prelims at 9 a.m. and finals at 3 p.m.
