Saturday night featured some strong swims at the USA Swimming Winter Nationals.
Indiana Press Release
ATLANTA – The Indiana University men's and women's swimming teams continued their strong showings at the 2016 AT&T Winter National Championships in Atlanta on Saturday.
Vini Lanza was tremendous for the Hoosiers in the men’s 100 butterfly, placing second overall with Indiana school record and NCAA A cut time of 45.56. With his mark, Lanza the top-six marks all-time in the event at IU.
In the B Final of the 100 fly, Max Irwin touched first to place ninth overall with a time of 47.94, while Oliver Patrouch took 11th overall with a mark of 48.13.
IU took home another title in the men’s 200 freestyle relay, with the Indiana team of Sam Lorentz, Oliver Patrouch, Anze Tavcar and Josh Romany winning with a time of 1:18.75. The Hoosiers took home third as well, with the IU team of Lanza, Ian Finnerty, Wes Duke and Max Irwin touching the wall in 1:19.35.
Finnerty was impressive for IU in the men’s 100 breaststroke, taking second place with a time of 52.68. In the men’s 100 backstroke, Bob Glover took fourth overall with a personal-best time of 46.08 which ranks him as the fourth-fastest performer in the event in program history.
Anze Tavcar led a trio of Hoosier swimmers in the men’s 200 freestyle A Final, placing third overall with a time of 1:34.61. Jackson Miller was right behind him in fourth (1:35.51), while Marwan Elkamash was fifth in a time of 1:35.64, ranking him as the seventh-fastest performer in the event in IU history.
Ali Rockett had a great swim in the A Final of the women’s 100 backstroke, placing third overall with a personal-best time of 52.91, ranking her as the ninth-fastest performer in the event at IU. Marie Chamberlain was right behind her in fourth with a time of 53.07.
Gia Dalesandro won the B Final with a personal-best time of 53.46 that ranks her as the 14th-best swimmer in the event in Hoosier history. Brooklyn Snodgrass was 15th overall with a time of 55.28.
Dalesandro was also a standout in the women’s 100 butterfly, taking fourth in the A Final with a time of 52.81. Christine Jensen was sixth overall with a personal-best time of 52.93 that ranks here as the fifth-fastest swimmer in the event in program history.
In the women’s 400 IM, Sam Lisy placed eighth in the A Final, touching the wall in a time of 4:12.18. In the B Final, Bailey Pressey was third to take 11th overall with a mark of 4:13.26, while Shelly Drozda was 16th in a time of 4:18.40.
Delaney Barnard was IU’s top finisher in the women’s 200 freestyle, winning the B Final with time of 1:46.96. Stephanie Marchuk was third in the B Final to take 11th overall with a mark of 1:47.48.
In the women’s 200 freestyle relay, the IU team of Rockett, Dalesandro, Holly Spears and Delaney Barnard took fifth in the A Final with a time of 1:32.32. The Hoosier team of Jensen, Snodgrass, Pressey and Chamberlain were seventh overall with a mark of 1:33.95.
The Indiana University men's and women's swimming and diving teams will conclude competition at both the AT&T USA Swimming Winter Nationals and at the Miami (OH) Invitational on Saturday.
Pittsburgh Press Release
ATLANTA—Several Pitt swimmers recorded personal-record times as the Panthers continued competing against some of the best in the nation on Friday morning and afternoon at the AT&T Winter Nationals at Georgia Tech’s McAuley Aquatic Center.
For the Pitt women, Amanda Richey and Sarah Giamber got things started in the 400 IM with times of 4:23.20 and 4:23.89, respectively, before Giamber significantly lowered her time to a personal record of 4:20.31 to place third in her second attempt in the event.
In the men’s 400 IM, Zach Lierley and Samy Helmbacher both had strong efforts. Lierley finished 12th (3:54.74) in the prelims and fourth (3:51.60) in his B final, while Helmbacher took 14th (3:56.18) in the heat races to also advance to the B final, where he swam seventh (3:55.84).
In the 200 back, Henrique Machado had another strong outing for the Pitt men, racing a season-best time of 47.71 to take ninth and just miss qualifying for the A final. In his B final 200 back, Machado eventually placed fourth with a time of 48.38.
Also advancing to a B final was Brian Lovasik, who finished 10th (1:37.76) in the 200 free prelims before placing third in his second attempt in the event in a time of 1:38.01. Luke Smutny advanced to the C final in the 200 free with his 21st-place finish in 1:40.04 before swimming a new PR of 1:39.56 to place fourth in his next race. Also racing the 200 free was Helmbacher, who placed 27th (1:40.58).
Smutny also competed in the 100 fly, setting a personal-record of 50.41 in the preliminary races; Brian Ramsey completed the Pitt men’s action in the pool with a time of 56.30 in his 100 breast heat.
Wrapping up for the Panthers’ women’s competitors was Valerie Daigneault and Emily Murphy in the 200 back. Daigneault continued her fantastic freshman season by posting a PR of 54.22 in the 200 back to take second in her C final after swimming the event in 54.92 in the prelims to place 22nd. Murphy posted a time of 55.45 in her preliminary race.
Ohio State Press Release
Atlanta, Ga.— Ohio State continues to put on a show at the 2016 AT&T Winter National Championships at Georgia Tech McAuley Aquatic Center.
One day after Lindsey Clary won a national title in the 500 freestyle, former Buckeye Aliena Schmidtke won a championship in the 100 butterfly. Her time of 51.87 outpaced the rest of the field to give her gold.
Schmidtke actually trailed after the first 50 yards, albeit by just .01 seconds, but she pulled ahead of Claire Donahue to secure her championship.
Last competing as a Buckeye in 2014-15, she made two NCAA Championships appearances and she also made a trip while a member of the New Mexico State swimming program, becoming the second swimmer ever from that university to earn a spot at NCAA’s. She also held the 100 fly record before Liz Li broke it last season.
Several current Ohio State swimmers competed on Friday as well. Clary (4:06.10) and Meg Bailey (4:08.29) both did exceptionally well in the 400 IM and finished second and third, respectively, after coming out of prelims in the same spots. This is the second top-three finish for both swimmers at nationals this week.
Bailey also swam in the 100 butterfly today, while Taylor Vargo and Katie Antal competed in the 100 breaststroke.
