The East Carolina men's and women's swimming team defeated College of Charleston in a dual meet at Minges Natatorium on Saturday. The women won by a final of 186-103, while the men cruised to a 174-115 victory. On the women's side, junior standout Bailie Monahan won a pair of individual events and was a part of two relay victories. For the men, Nikola Simic won both of his sprint events and was also part of two relay triumphs.
The meet began with a win for the women by the team of Julie Lajoie, Megan Sellers, Bailie Monahan and Tori Angermeier in the 400 yard medley relay (3:49.02). Monahan followed her contribution in the relay with a victory in the 200-yard butterfly at 2:01.89, setting a new pool record. She also claimed first-place in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 56.93.
Angermeier and Lajoie finished one and two in the 200-yard freestyle with Lauren Chew placing third for one of eight medal sweeps on the women's side. Angermeier also touched first in the 500-yard freestyle. Anna Marie Svanbergsson was also a multi-event winner, claiming first-place in the 50 (24.57) and 100-yard freestyle (52.25) events, while also finishing second in the 100-yard butterfly.
Sellers won the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:04.16 and Chew took first in the 200-yard backstroke (2:06.60). After finishing third in the 100-yard breaststroke, freshman Vendela Norrman captured first in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:21.04). Senior Danielle Morrin earned the victory in the 400-yard IM with a Minges Natatorium record time of 4:25.22, beating Lajoie, who claimed her second second-place finish of the meet, by 0.56.
Sophomore Ashley Sams qualified for the NCAA Zone Diving Championship on both the 1-meter (268.52) and 3-meter springboard (311.85), winning both events. Alicia Roueche was a close second in both events with a score of 262.20 on the 1-meter and 272.10 on the 3-meter.
In the final event, the women's 200 yard freestyle, the Pirates A team of Angermeier, Monahan, Svanbergsson and freshman Erin Polich touched first 1:36.80.
"We swam extremely well and are very happy with the results," said head coach Rick Kobe. "We set two pool records and it's pretty special anytime you can do that."
For the men, the meet began with a first-place finish in the 200-yard medley relay led by Simic, Andre Smedstad, Rokas Cepulis and Adam Dear. Cepulis and Simic followed with two victories each, while Dear posted a first-place finish in the 100-yard butterfly.
Cepulis won the 100-yard breaststroke in 57.26 and the 400-yard IM in 4:05.06. Simic touched 0.44 ahead of second-place Shawn Hunter to in the 50-yard freestyle before also besting Hunter by 1.85 seconds in the 100-yard freestyle. Freshman Bolek De Pawlikowski was also a multi-event winner, capturing first-place in the 1000-yard freestyle (9:47.36) as well as the 200-yard backstroke (1:52.13).
Single event winners included: Jeffrey Mead in the 200-yard freestyle (1:43.87), Reed Wheeler in the 100-yard backstroke (52.23) and Jake Pierce in the 500-yard freestyle (4:48.64).
The meet concluded with a Pirate victory in the men's 200 yard freestyle relay. Led by the team of Mead, Simic, Hunter and Trevor Irish, the A team finished in 1:24.28.
Sophomore Will Beliveau swept both diving events on the men's side, scoring 258.60 points on the 1-meter and a season-high 293.78 on the 3-meter. Alex Clark took second on the 1-meter (257.63) missing first by less than a point and Matt Mullen took second on 3-meter with a 290.70.
Up next for the Pirates is a tri-meet at South Carolina Nov. 8 against the host Gamecocks and College of Charleston.
