Michigan
Iowa
Wolverines Pull Away Late, Glide Past Host Iowa
11/1/2019 5:45:00 PM | Women's Swimming & Diving
» The Wolverines won nine events (including both relays). Miranda Tucker, Maggie MacNeil and Kaitlynn Sims each won two individual events.
» MacNeil lowered her previously-held pool record in the 100-yard butterfly (51.43).
» U-M led by nine points (70-61) at the halfway point, but pulled ahead in the second half, outscoring Iowa by a 65-30 margin in the five events immediately following the first diving break.
Site: Iowa City, Iowa (Campus Recreation and Wellness Center)
Score: #11 Michigan 173, Iowa 127
Records: U-M (3-0, 1-0 Big Ten), Iowa (2-2, 1-2 Big Ten)
Next U-M Event: Wed-Sun., Dec. 4-8 -- at Minnesota Invite (Minneapolis, Minn.), 10 a.m./6 p.m.
• Complete Results (PDF)
IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Senior Miranda Tucker, sophomore Maggie MacNeil and freshman Kaitlynn Sims each won two individual events to help the No. 11-ranked University of Michigan women's swimming and diving team defeat Iowa, 173-127, on Friday afternoon (Nov. 1) inside the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center.
As a team, U-M won nine events, including both relays. The Wolverines were able to keep the Hawkeyes at a comfortable distance thanks to their depth, going 2-3-4 in four events that Iowa individually won.
"Our goal coming into the meet was to study the pool and swim as fast as we could given that we're pretty deep into training," said head coach Mike Bottom. "For the first time this season, we have a healthy squad. This first part of the season was riddled with a lot of different challenges, and yet, our whole team was here today fighting for Michigan. We feel like we accomplished our goals."
The Wolverines got off to a fast start, winning the 200-yard medley relay (1:40.11). MacNeil (24.88 on backstroke) and Tucker (27.83 on breaststroke) gave Michigan a three-second lead at the halfway mark before juniors Claire Maiocco (24.67 on butterfly) and Daria Pyshnenko (22.73 on freestyle) brought it home.
Sims dominated in the 1,000-yard freestyle, finishing with the second-fastest time in the NCAA this season (9:44.11). Her splits never dipped below 29.7 seconds. The Wolverines picked up 16 points with a 1-2-3 finish, as junior Sierra Schmidt (9:58.41) and freshman Octavia Lau (10:15.14) came in behind Sims.
The Hawkeyes won the next two events to inch a little closer until Tucker got the Wolverines back on the board with a win in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:02.58). Iowa also got the 200-yard butterfly but only cut the lead by one point, as U-M went 2-3-4 behind senior Vanessa Krause (2:00.15), junior Emma Cleason (2:02.81) and junior Kate Krolikowski (2:03.00).
Pyshnenko got her hand on the wall first in the 50-yard freestyle (23.44), holding off Iowa's Hannah Burvill by .03 seconds. Michigan showed its depth on the diving boards to close out the first half of the meet, going 2-3-4 on one-meter with junior Camryn McPherson (second, 310.60), sophomore Allie Klein (300.60) and junior Nikki Canale (292.45). At the halfway point, U-M led by eight points (79-71).
The Wolverines pulled away from there, led by MacNeil. The Canadian won the 100-yard freestyle (49.81) and the 100-yard butterfly (51.43), winning the latter by almost three seconds and lowering her previously-held pool record.
Iowa won the 200-yard backstroke, but U-M held strong once again with a 2-3-4 finish from freshman Mariella Venter (2:00.03), senior Chloe Hicks (2:02.43) and senior Jacqui Schafer (2:02.62).
Michigan seized firm control thanks to a come-from-behind win from Tucker in the 200-yard breaststroke. She outsplit Iowa's Aleksa Olesiak on the back half to win in 2:17.01, while junior Alex Hughes (2:23.36) and sophomore Victoria Kwan (2:24.78) added crucial points with third- and fourth-place finishes, respectively.
Sims was victorious in the 500-yard freestyle, leading another 1-2-3 finish (4:49.77). Like in the 1,000-yard freestyle earlier in the meet, Schmidt (4:53.85) and Lau (4:57.98) finished behind her in second and third.
Heading into the second diving break, U-M led Iowa, 144-101, outscoring the Hawkeyes, 65-30, in the previous five events. The Wolverines clinched the victory on the three-meter springboard with Canale (second, 339.35), McPherson (fourth, 314.00) and Klein (fifth, 293.00).
"Our diving was awesome today," added Bottom. "We broke up the swimming events so that our teams could watch and cheer on our divers. It's early for them, too, with a lot of them learning new dives. For some of them, it was the first time performing those dives in a competitive setting. They're making great progress."
The quartet of Krause, freshman Megan Glass, MacNeil and Tucker closed out the meet with a win in the 400-yard freestyle relay (3:25.47).
Michigan will return to the pool next month for the Minnesota Invite, Wednesday through Sunday Dec. 4-8, in Minneapolis. The meet will mimic the postseason, beginning at 6 p.m. CST on Wednesday, Dec. 4, and continuing with preliminaries (10 a.m.) and finals (6 p.m.) sessions Thursday through Saturday, Dec. 5-7. Action will conclude with a long-course time trial on Sunday, Dec. 8 at 9 a.m.
Players Mentioned
