Northwestern men’s swimming and diving delivered a statement win against Big Ten rival Wisconsin Saturday, while the women suffered their first conference loss of the year.
The Wildcats (6-0, 2-0 Big Ten) men kept their undefeated season alive against their highest-ranked opponent of the season with a 163.5-136.5 win. In the most recent College Swimming & Diving Coaches Association of America poll, the Badgers were ranked No. 18 in the country on the men’s side and No. 12 on the women’s side. NU’s women (4-2, 1-1 Big Ten) fell 205.5-93.5. They finished 4-0 at home this year but have now lost away meets at top-25 programs Duke and Wisconsin.
NU opened and closed the meet by winning both men’s relays. Sophomore David Gerchik, senior Tyler Lu, sophomore Stuart Seymour and sophomore Cade Duncan won the 400-yard medley relay, while Seymour, Duncan, sophomore Connor Schuster and freshman Gal Shlegel won the 200-yard freestyle relay. Gerchik, Lu, Seymour and Duncan also had individual victories in the 200-yard backstroke, 100-yard breaststroke, 100-yard back and 100-yard free respectively.
Sophomore Diego Nosack headlined a successful day in the pool for the ’Cats with wins in the 200-yard fly and 500-yard free.
Sophomore Caroline Li picked up the lone event win for the NU women, winning the one-meter dive with a score of 261.23. Junior Shauntel Lim finished as a close runner-up, scoring a 248.4.
The ’Cats had numerous second-place finishes in the women’s races, namely two runner-up performances from junior Lindsay Ervin in the 50 and 100-meter free. Sophomore Maggie Papanicholas had a standout race in the 200-yard breast, swimming a personal best time of 2:11.57 and finishing second to 2024 Second-Team All-Big Ten swimmer Hazal Ozkan.
NU’s performance against a tough conference opponent will propel the ’Cats for the remainder of Big Ten competition.
Two weekends from now, NU will travel to Minnesota to close out the regular season in a triple dual meet against Minnesota and Purdue. The Golden Gophers are currently the No. 24 ranked men’s team and No. 23 ranked women’s team in the country.
Email: [email protected]
Related Stories:
— Northwestern men’s swimming and diving sweeps Duke, women fall to No. 16 Blue Devils