Swim & Dive Teams Earn 11 Wins and a Pool Record on Senior Day

WASHINGTON - With a total of 11 wins and a new pool record, the American University men's and women's swimming & diving teams had plenty to be proud of in a strong Senior Day meet against Old Dominion. On the women's side, the Eagles won both relays and got a total of four victories along with a new pool record from junior Mimi Watts.

Notable

The meet started on a high note with a huge win for AU in the women's 400 medley relay. The foursome of freshman Sophia Hemingway, senior Kenzie Cresci, Watts and sophomore Marissa Kleckner surged ahead of the competition to win in 3:53.85, more than seven seconds faster than second-place ODU.
The new pool record was set in the women's 100 free, with Watts going 51.43 which is eight-tenths of a second faster than the previous record set by Casey Legler almost exactly 24 years ago on January 22, 1999.
The sprint events, many not usually seen in competition, were very successful races for the Eagles.
Cresci took the 50 breaststroke for the women in 30.40, while sophomore Will Deitch won the men's 50 breaststroke in 26.51.
Watts and junior Nick Buckley swept the women's and men's 50 fly with times of 25.14 and 23.30, respectively.
Buckley also won the men's 50 free in 21.01, just about eight-tenths off his own school record.
Freshman Katie Yoo had a dominant performance in the women's 400 individual medley, finishing first in 4:39.38 which was nearly nine seconds ahead of second place.
The final win of the day for the Eagles was in the women's 200 free relay, as Watts anchored a foursome that also included Kleckner, freshman Avery Barber and junior Maddie Mara. It took a come-from-behind sprint at the finish, but Watts got the job done and AU placed first in 1:38.03.
The 1-meter diving event had just two competitors, with both junior Amanda Bosses and sophomore Griffin Batt taking the wins for American.
In the overall team scores, ODU won 159-112 on the women's side, and 179-92 on the men's side.

Thoughts from Coach Garland Bartlett

"These seniors mean a lot to the program. They've been through a coaching transition, they've been through two COVID years, and they have really set the foundation for this program for what it is today and on the upward trajectory that we're on. Right now we're at the peak of our training, yardage-wise and then also in the weight room, so we're going to start to slowly taper down and look to fine tune some things and be ready for the conference championships in three weeks."

Full Results

Next Up

In one week, American will compete at the Bucknell Bison Invite in Lewisburg, Pa. The meet will serve as a preview for the 2023 Patriot League Championships, which will be hosted by Bucknell in mid-February.

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