Part of trying to build a nationally competitive program is facing the best competition the country has to offer, and that’s the challenge a rising NU swimming program was faced with on Friday.
Coming off of wins in its season-opener against Miami (OH), Northwestern was no match for two of college swimming’s perennial powerhouses at a tri-meet in Bloomington, Indiana. NU’s men’s team was defeated 224-76 by Texas’ No. 1-ranked and reigning national champion men and 241-59 by Indiana’s No. 2-ranked
and reigning Big Ten champion men. Meanwhile, NU’s women’s team fell 250-50 to Texas’ No. 3-ranked and reigning SEC champion women and 241-59 to Indiana’s No. 5-ranked women. All rankings listed are taken from the College Swimming & Diving Coaches Association’s preseason poll.
Outside of NU’s head-to-head matchups, Texas swept Indiana on the men’s and women’s sides, coming away as the meet’s overall victor. According to Swimcloud, Indiana’s Josh Bey was the male high point, with event wins in the 200-meter breaststroke (2:04.28) and 200-meter individual medley (1:55.11), while Indiana’s Liberty Clark was the female high point, with event wins in the 50-meter freestyle (23.92), 100-meter freestyle (51.61) and 200-meter freestyle (1:53.00).
Stuart Seymour was Northwestern’s top male swimmer of the day, finishing 16th in the men’s high point standings, while first-year Xintong Wang led the way for the women, finishing 24th in the women’s high point standings. Oli Kos was NU’s lone event winner, taking the title in the 200-meter backstroke.
The meet’s swimming events were contested in short course meters (25m), to give the team’s athletes a chance to prepare for the upcoming Short Course World Championship Trials in Rosemont, Illinois.
Results for the meet can be found on the Meet Mobile app or on Swimcloud’s meet page for the event.
If interested in learning about how team and high point scoring works for dual-meets, please reference the section “Explanation of Dual-Meet Scoring System” at the bottom of the recap of the Northwestern-Miami (OH) dual-meet.
Men’s recap
The ‘Cats were toppled by well over 100 points by both the Longhorns and the Hoosiers, only placing on the podium in four of the meet’s 16 events.
In the meet’s two relays, Northwestern finished third in the 400-meter freestyle relay (3:11.95) with a team of Seymour, Duncan, Schuster and Kos; and fifth in the 200-meter medley relay (1:35.25) with a team of Kos, Staples, Seymour and Duncan.
The ‘Cats’ standout performances were Kyle Ly’s third-place finish in one-meter diving, Seymour’s third-place finish in the 100-meter backstroke (50.96) and Kos’ event victory in the 200-meter backstroke (1:53.77). Trailing Texas’ Will Modglin by nearly a half-second at the 100-meter mark, Kos flew home in the back 100 with a 58.08, taking NU’s lone event victory of the week in front of the alma mater of his world champion brother — Hubert Kos.
IU’s Bey took first in the high point standings, with Texas’ Campbell McKean and Aiden Hammer claiming second and third, respectively. NU’s top performers were Staples (16th), Kos (25th) and Staples (28th).
Women’s recap
Up against tough competition, the women finished on the podium in just one of the meet’s 16 events.
The ‘Cats’ singular podium finish came from first-year Flawia Kamzol, who placed third in the 100-meter butterfly with a time of 58.17. In fact, NU’s first-years were the ‘Cats’ standout performers of the meet, with Xintong Wang and Flawia Kamzol topping the high point standings for Northwestern, with 24th and 28th-place finishes, respectively.
In the relays, Northwestern placed fifth in the 200-meter medley relay (1:51.30) with a team of Kamzol, Papanicholas, Davis and Ferguson, and seventh in the 400-meter freestyle relay (3:47.52) after its A-team (Kamzol-Bleakney-Ferguson-Deierlein) was disqualified.
In the overall meet, the Hoosiers’ Clark won high point, while UT’s Jillian Cox and Nikoletta Padar finished second and third, respectively.
Looking ahead
The ‘Cats are now just three months out from what will be a fall peak meet for some of its fastest swimmers; Short Course World Championship Trials in Rosemont (Oct. 28 – Oct. 31), a national-level 25-meter pool competition, whose results will determine the United States’ team for the World Aquatics Swimming Championships (25m) in December.
However, before that, the ‘Cats will have another dual-meet tune-up. After a couple weeks of training back home at the Norris Aquatics Center, Northwestern will head back to the waters of The Hoosier State to take on Notre Dame in South Bend (Oct. 23).
