Duke, UNCW, Boston College Tri-Meet
- October 29-30, 2021
- Taishoff Aquatics Pavilion, Durham, North Carolina
- Short course yard (25 yards)
- Results Link
- Team scores:
- Duke M Defeat UNCW M 252-160
- Duke M Defeat BC M 276.5-141.5
- UNCW M Defeat BC M 254.5-174.5
- Duke W Defeat UNCW W 287-127
- Duke W Defeat BC W 283-132
- UNCW W Defeat BC W 266-162
Duke swept the wins in its home opener against UNC Wilmington and Boston College over the weekend. The Blue Devils led during both days of competition, not letting either team catch up to them, despite exhibitioning the last eight events.
Duke also saw some all-time top performances, including Cole Reznick’s school record-breaking 100 IM, Margo O’Meara’s 335.10 mark on the 1-meter springboard, the second best in program history, and Sarah Foley’s 56.73 100 IM, also the second-fastest in program history.
Men’s Meet
Duke’s seniors paved the way for the team’s runaway success. Seniors David Hallaron and Reznick won two individual events each. Hallaron won the 200 back (1:49.66) and the 500 free (4:33.37). Hallaron made major improvements in the two events last season, with his career bests of 1:44.19 in the 200 back being the second-best in program history, and 4:22.33 in the 500 free breaking the school record. Though he’s off those best times, Hallaron’s two swims at the tri-meet are the best of the season so far for Duke.
Reznick won the 100 IM in 50.46, a Duke record. He also won the 50 breast (25.52), and swam the fastest time in the 400 IM (4:01.34), though it was exhibitioned. Reznick’s 100 IM record isn’t particularly surprising — last season, he broke Duke’s record in the 200 IM with his time of 1:44.61.
Senior Matthew Whelan also won an event, the 200 fly, with a time of 1:50.48. Other top swimmers for Duke included sophomore David Chang — whose winning 50-backstroke time clocked in at 23 even — junior Charlie Gingrich with his 21.97 50 fly, and junior Coleman Kredich winning the 100 free in 44.83.
UNCW had three event winners at the meet. Freshman Sam O’Brien won the 1000 free in 9:23.29. That time is the best in the CAA this season. O’Brien is also strong in the 200 back, where he competed and placed seventh at Wave I of 2021 U.S. Olympic Trials, but his 1:51.98 time at the tri-meet wasn’t enough to beat Duke’s Hallaron and Jack Christian, or O’Brien’s fellow freshman teammate Will Barker.
Barker placed second in the event with a 1:50.33 and he also won the 100 back in 49.11. Barker was the 100 back champion at the 2021 NCHSAA Championships, and this is the fastest time for UNCW this season.
The final UNCW event winner was Gianmichael D’Alessandro, who won the 100 breast in 55.31 seconds, also the fastest time for UNCW this season.
For Boston College, junior Zachary Szmania placed second in the 1000 (9:27.98) and third in the 500 (4:34.90). Szmania broke the school record last season in the 1000 with a time of 9:20.20.
Freshman Jack Doyle posted some strong swims for the team, including a fourth-place finish in the 200 IM (1:53.17), a fifth-place finish in the 50 breast (26.56), a seventh-place finish in the 100 breast (58.07), and two third-place finishes in the 100 and 400 IM, the latter of which was aided by exhibition.
Sophomore Kyle Floyd also performed relatively well, earning fourth in the 100 fly (49.29), fourth in the 200 fly (1:51.05), and fifth in the 200 IM (1:54.29). Last season, Floyd set the school record in both fly events.
Women’s Meet
The CSCAA ranked the Duke women as No. 24 in the country, and the tri-meet featured top performances from the women, including O’Meara’s second-best 1-meter diving mark in the program’s history, and Foley’s second-fastest 100 IM for the program.
Foley led a 1-2-3 sweep of the 100 IM, and the second- and third-place finishers, sophomore Catherine Belyakov and grad student Alicia Harrison, also finished with times that placed in the top five in the program’s history.
Foley also won the 200 breast (2:17.28) and 1000 free (10:08.71). Last season, as a freshman, she placed in the A final of the 200 breast at the NCAA women’s championships with her time of 2:10.28. Foley previously set the fastest time of the season for the team in that event during the dual meet against Virginia Tech, when she swam 2:16.16.
Duke also had some impressive freshman performances. Yixuan Chang won the 200 fly (2:01.63) and McKenna Smith won the 100 free (51.22). Smith’s time is the fastest for Duke this season so far.
Chang also recorded the fastest 400 IM time for the women with her exhibitioned 4:21.89. Chang had previously placed fourth in the 400 IM at the 2019 Winter Junior East Nationals.
For UNCW, Brooke Kinsley clocked a 10:17.31 in the 1000, earning second and finishing with a CAA-leading time.
Freshman Trinity McNall also set a personal best in the 3-meter dive with 273.05 points.
Freshman Megan Kramer paved the way for Boston College, swimming four races with times that ranked in the top 10 performances in program history. Kramer won the 500 free in 4:56.98, the fourth-fastest BC time ever. She also placed third in the 200 fly (2:04.34) with the seventh-fastest time in program history, fourth in the 200 IM (2:06.41) with the sixth-fastest time in program history, and fifth in the 100 IM (59.75) with the T-3rd fastest time in program history.
Boston College returns to the pool in a tri-meet with Northwestern and Drexel on Nov. 5 and 6. Duke will host Georgia Tech on Nov. 6. UNCW will host a CAA Pod Meet with James Madison, Delaware, and William & Mary on Nov. 6 and 7.