DURHAM, N.C. – The Duke swimming and diving teams kick off the 2016-17 campaign one week from today in Tallahassee, Fla., where the squads will go up against Florida State and Minnesota. Here are five storylines to follow as the Blue Devils look to continue building on their success over the last few seasons.
Returning NCAA Experience
The Duke men return two members of the 200-yard medley relay that captured honorable mention All-America honors with a 14th-place finish in the event at the 2016 NCAA Championships. Seniors Peter Kropp and Kaz Takabayashi have competed on the relay at two consecutive NCAA meets, while classmate Michael Miller joined Kropp and Takabayashi on the Blue Devils’ 400 medley relay, which placed 20th in preliminaries last spring. Senior Michael Seaberg accompanied the group to Atlanta as a relay alternate. On the diving boards, Evan Moretti boasts NCAA experience as well, having garnered honorable mention All-America accolades on the 3-meter board as a rookie last year.
The Blue Devil women return six of their seven NCAA qualifiers from a season ago, including four individual event qualifiers in junior Verity Abel, junior Leah Goldman, junior Isabella Paez and senior Maddie Rusch. Sophomore Maddie Hess and senior Jessie Sutherland are also back after joining Goldman and Rusch on Duke’s 200 and 400 freestyle relays.
Red, White and Blue Devils
The Duke program was represented in Rio over the summer by former diver Abby Johnston (’13), who competed in her second Olympic Games after claiming silver in London four years ago. In Rio, Johnston represented the United States in women’s individual 3-meter springboard diving, advancing to the event final. She competed in Rio under the guidance of Nunzio Esposto, who serves as the head diving coach at Duke.
Sophomore diver Mackenzie Willborn joined Johnston at the U.S. Olympic Diving Trials in June, where she finished 21st on the 3-meter board in her Olympic Trials debut. Freshman Nathaniel Hernandez was also in action on the national stage over the summer, capturing gold in the men’s 1-meter event at the AT&T USA Diving National Championships in August.
In June, a program record 18 Blue Devil swimmers descended upon Omaha, Neb., to compete at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials. Among the highlights for Duke were 2011 graduate Ashley Twichell taking fifth overall in the women’s 800-meter freestyle and 11th at the 400-meter distance, and Miller reaching the semifinals of the men’s 100 butterfly. Miller also posted top-25 finishes in the 200 butterfly and 200 and 400 IM, while sophomore Judd Howard placed 34th overall in the 200 breaststroke and freshman Kylie Jordan finished 36th in the 100 butterfly.
Sophomore Yusuke Legard competed at the 2016 British Olympic Trials in the 50-meter freestyle before taking home a pair of silver medals at the British National Summer Championship in August.
Additions to Blue Devil Coaching Staff
Head coach Dan Colella welcomed assistant coaches Niko Fantakis, Doak Finch and Melanie Klaren to the program over the summer. Finch came to Durham following successful tenures at Penn State and his alma mater, Virginia, and Fantakis after completing his collegiate career at Connecticut College. A former captain at Cal, Klaren joined the Blue Devil staff after announcing her retirement from competition following the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team Trials.
High Marks for Recruiting Class
Duke’s group of six incoming female swimmers and divers was tabbed the No. 11 recruiting class in the country by SwimSwam. The class includes swimmers Suzanne Dolan, Jordan, Brittany Kampfer, Alyssa Marsh and Kira Page, as well as diver Jaina Gaudette.
The men’s swimming and diving team welcomed nine freshmen to the program in swimmers Sheldon Boboff, Roger Kriegl, Daichi Matsuda, Chris Murphy, Emir Ozsuer, Noah Stevens, Eric Strickland and Miles Williams. Hernandez also joins the class to bolster the Blue Devil diving corps.
Jordan, Kriegl, Marsh and Strickland all competed at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials over the summer.
Three Home Meets on Tap for 2016-17
The Blue Devils will compete at home in Taishoff Aquatics Pavilion three times during the 2016-17 campaign. The home slate begins Saturday, Oct. 29 at 11 a.m. in a tri-meet with the Northwestern men and NC State women. The program will also hold its Alumni Reunion during the weekend.
In January, Duke will host South Carolina Saturday, Jan. 14 before welcoming Virginia Friday, Jan. 20 in ACC action.
All home meets are free to the public. Doors to Taishoff Aquatics Pavilion open 90 minutes prior to the start of each meet.
