Swimming and Diving

Despite several strong individual performances, Northwestern fell to a pair of Peach State opponents in its season-opening weekend.

The Wildcats battled No. 4 Georgia on Friday and managed several wins in individual events, but ultimately lost the meet 167-125.

Freshman Sophie Angus earned NU’s first win, touching at 1:03.81 in the 100-yard breaststroke. The Cats followed up Angus’ triumph with back-to-back victories from seniors Mary Warren, who finished the 50-yard freestyle in 23.41, and Anna Keane, who finished the 100 freestyle in 51.47. Freshman Calypso Sheridan also emerged victorious, completing the 200 breaststroke in 2:16.49 and beating the next-fastest swimmer by more than four seconds.

In diving, junior Olivia Rosendahl captured first place in the 1-meter with a score of 300.30.

Coach Abby Steketee said she was impressed by the Cats, and praised their energy and fierceness.

“They had a lot of pride in controlling what they could control within their lanes,” she said. “I mean, we’re swimming, so you can’t tackle or steal the ball, so I really felt like they did a great job of maximizing the water space they had.”

NU swam again the next day, going up against Georgia Tech on Saturday morning. The Cats secured victories in nine events but were narrowly defeated by the Yellow Jackets, 153-147.

The meet began with the 200-yard medley relay, with Sheridan, Angus, freshman Ilektra Lebl and Warren touching first in 1:43.40.

Sheridan came away with a pair of individual first-place finishes, winning the 100-yard backstroke in 55.52 and the 200 backstroke in 1:59.49. Angus won the 100 breaststroke for the second straight day, edging out the second-place finisher by just .02 seconds.

“I saw her on the last turn so I just tried to keep my head down and race her to the finish,” Angus said.

Rosendahl won the 3-meter diving competition, scoring 318.68. The Cats then took second, third and fourth place in the 1-meter competition.

Steketee said she appreciated the energy of co-captains Warren and senior Aja Malone, and praised their ability to balance their competitive and leadership roles despite swimming in many events.

Warren, who replicated her 50 freestyle win from Friday with a 23.19 finish Saturday, said she pushed team spirit and togetherness throughout the meet. She added the 400-yard freestyle relay at the end was the most memorable race of the day.

“We fought to the finish,” Warren said. “I could hear everyone saying ‘Go U! NU!’ or ‘Let’s go Cats!’ and that revs me up on the blocks. I’m like, ‘Alright let’s go!’ It gets me really excited.”

Even after the losses, Steketee said the swimmers maintained their focus and stayed hungry, crediting their tenacity and heart. She also said the team will continue to look ahead.

The Cats will next swim in a tri-meet against Illinois and Rutgers on Friday.

“It’s always one step forward in every way,” Steketee said. “It’s one step forward in how we train and how we go to class and how we treat each other. So we’re always looking for that higher, faster, stronger.”

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Twitter: @rachkupfer