Courtesy: Ohio State Athletics
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State men’s and women’s swimming & diving teams will compete in their first road test of the season with a double dual against Virginia Tech and Penn State Oct. 26-27 in Christiansburg, Va., at the Christiansburg Aquatic Center. Events begin at 6 p.m. on Friday and continue at 11 a.m. on Saturday.
LAST TIME OUT
In Ohio State’s second meet of the season, the Buckeye men took down then-ranked No. 10 Texas A&M, 199-153, and No. 11 Louisville, 192-161, on Oct. 12-13. The women fell to then-ranked No. 5 Texas A&M and competed against No. 8 Louisville though it was not scored.
OSU won 10 events overall, including a dominating effort in the freestyle relays. Freya Rayner, Maria Coy, Taylor Petrak and Rebekah Bradley claimed first in the 200 Free Relay (1:32.42) and Petrak, Coy, Katie Trace and Rayner later picked up another win in the 400 Free Relay (3:23.08). Teo Chavez, Sem Andreis, Mossimo Chavez and Matt Abeysinghe placed first in the 200 Free Relay on the men’s side, clocking in at 1:19.83. Following their lead, Andrew Loy, Paul DeLakis, Andreis and Abeysinghe closed out the meet with a win in the 400 Free Relay (2:56.68). The men also won the 400 Medley Relay, with Henrique Painhas, Jason Mathews, Noah Lense and Loy teaming up and posting a time of 3:13.89.
Mathews was the only freshman to win an event over the weekend, taking first in the 100 Breast at 54.64. Mathews also swam a 200 Breast time of 1:59.15. Loy was OSU’s top finisher in the 100 and 200 Free events, and clocked a quick split of 43.89 in the 400 Free Relay as the leadoff leg. Overall, Loy has multiple times in the Top 25 in the nation and contributed major points to the men’s team.
Genevieve Angerame highlighted the women’s diving effort, placing first on the 3-meter board with a score of 315.40 and finishing third on the 1-meter board with a mark of 272.10. Rayner had a strong showing in the freestyle sprints, winning the 50 Free (23.16) and swimming on all four relay squads. Molly Kowal claimed wins in both the 500 Free (4:52.25) and the 1000 Free (10:08.34), dominating the distance events.
BIG HONORS FOR THE BUCKS
The Ohio State men swept the Big Ten’s weekly honors on Oct. 3 with Ruslan Gaziev earning Swimmer and Freshman of the Week and Jacob Fielding taking home Diver of the Week. OSU swept the weekly awards for the first time since Nov. 26, 2013.
Gaziev won his first two individual races in the Scarlet and Gray with a 50 Free time of 20.19 and 100 Free time of 43.79. He then improved his 100 Free time with a 43.40 split in the 400 Free Relay as the leadoff leg, posting an NCAA B Cut and guiding the quartet to a second-place finish. His 100 Free time is still the No. 1 time in the nation.
Fielding took the title on the 1-meter board with a score of 363.83 and placed second on the 3-meter with a mark of 413.78, just 0.07 away from first place. Fielding’s 1-meter score is just sixth in the nation, and his 3-meter score is third overall. Both scores are also NCAA zone-qualifying marks.
SCOUTING THE HOKIES
Virginia Tech is competing in its second dual of the season, coming off a win for the men against Duke, 178.5-121.5 and a loss for the women, 172-123 on Oct. 13. Both the men and women’s team received votes in the CSCAA poll on Oct. 24.The Hokie men won 10 out 18 events, highlighted by Ben Schiesl, who was named ACC Men’s Diver of the week on Oct. 15 after a win on the 1-meter and fourth place on the 3-meter boards.
SCOUTING THE NITTANY LIONS
The Penn State women’s team is 1-1 on the season in duals, opening the season with a loss to Virginia but winning against George Washington in its last time out, 196-99. The Nittany Lions won every event, and Marie Schnobel was named Freshman of the Week by the Big Ten on Oct. 17. PSU marks the first conference opponent for the Buckeyes.
The men’s team is also 1-1, with a win against George Washington and a loss to Virginia. The squad won all but one event during the dual with George Washington, and following the meet the Nittany Lions swept Big Ten men’s weekly honors. Nathan Schiffmann was named Swimmer of the Week, Hector Garcia Boissier was diver of the week and Michael Daley earned Freshman of the Week on Oct. 10.
UP NEXT
Following the two-day meet this weekend, Ohio State hosts Denison (men and women) and the Akron women’s team on Friday, Nov. 2 at 6 p.m. at McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion.