The men's and women's swimming teams traveled to East Carolina University on Sunday for an annual meet that was greeted with great expectations by both teams.
"On paper, we felt [the meet] was one of our two most competitive of the year," coach Bob Thompson said.
Though Duke was competitive in the meet, East Carolina came out on top in both competitions, defeating the men, 132-93, and the women, 134-72.
In the women's meet, Duke managed to win just one event. Freshman Megan Kavanaugh won the 200 Individual Medley with a time of 2:25.70. Though the Blue Devils struggled to win events, Thompson noted that in many events Duke placed both second and third. As a result, the score did not reflect the intensity of competition.
"I think they competed well, they went out after it, they just came up short," Thompson said.
Leslie King turned in a strong performance for Duke, swimming a 10:30.48 in the 1000, which was good for third in the event. Thompson felt it was one of King's strongest swims ever.
The men were able to keep the scoring closer by winning a few more events than the women. Chris Wise, one of the top returning performers from the end of last season, won the 1000 in a time of 9:44.68 and turned in a strong performance in the 500, swimming a 4:45.20. David Tonini won the 200 IM, and just got touched out at the wall for first place in the 200 backstroke.
"I think it went well," men's captain Douglas Pierson said. "At the top we definitely improved our times."
The men's relay team of James Martens, Phil Borden, Marshall Preston and Craig Macklin was able to win its relay.
In the diving competition, as with swimming, Duke was competitive on both the men's and women's side. Freshman Steve Heasley impressed Thompson with second place finishes on both the one and three meter boards. Sophomore Catherine Robinette accomplished the same feat for the women, and freshman Mary Decker finished third in both diving events.
Both teams will now turn their attention to the meet this Saturday at UNC-Wilmington.
"I am looking forward to next weekend where I think the competition will be a little closer," women's captain Susan Kresel said.
Pierson stated that the men's goal is to maintain the winning times of the top swimmers and then focus on improving Duke's second, third and fourth place times to elevate the score for a team victory.
"UNC-W is going to be our biggest meet of the year," Pierson said.
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