The swimming and diving team achieved mixed results in Saturday's tri-meet in Greenvile, N.C. The men's and women's teams easily defeated George Washington by scores of 174-63 and 162-78, respectively. The men, however, were dispatched by host East Carolina 141-95, and the women lost a close 132-111 contest to the Pirates.
In hindsight, it seems as if the home team pulled out all the stops to ensure a victory for its fans.
"They were rested, and they had fast skins. They were probably a little better prepared than we were," said senior Amy Halligan, who finished second in the 200-yard individual medley, placed third in the 200-yard butterfly, and contributed to Duke's victory in the 400-yard freestyle relay.
Nevertheless, the meet was not without its fair share of Blue Devil highlights. Teddy Helfers continued his domination of the distance events by winning both the 500 and 1,000-yard freestyle races--the second time this year he has accomplished the dual feat.
Sophomore Andy Storm was victorious in the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:07.94, a time fast enough to put him in the ACC Top-10.
The men's third win of the afternoon came in the 400-yard medley relay, the closest race of the day. Alex Sidelnik, Kevin Arthofer, John Humphrey and Trevor Yates combined to post a time of 3:30.45, and edged out East Carolina by 0.13 seconds.
Jackie Rodriguez once again performed spectacularly for the Duke women's squad and posted her third two-victory performance of the year. This weekend, Rodriguez claimed wins in both the 1000 freestyle (10:13.38) and the 200 breaststroke (2:20.54). Rodriguez's victory in the 200-yard breaststroke marks the fourth time in as many meets this year in which she has won the event.
As in the men's meet, the Blue Devils most impressive and exhilarating victory came in a relay event. In its final race of the day, Duke finished the women's 400 freestyle relay in 3:35.33, narrowly defeating the East Carolina squad by 0.46 seconds.
"[The 400 freestyle] was incredibly exciting, we were just able to touch them out," Halligan said. "That was a good, positive way to end the meet."
The Duke divers also enjoyed success on the women's side. Freshman Patty Forrest and senior Jeanne Dewit finished first and second, respectively, in the one-meter diving event.
Despite their dual losses to East Carolina, most Blue Devils saw Saturday's event as a positive step in the right direction and good preparation for their first important multi-team meet of the year, next weekend's Patriot Invitational at George Mason University.
"I think our team swam very well yesterday," sophomore Billy Pearce said. "We put up some good times, but we're still looking forward to our meet this weekend."
Although Amy Halligan was a little more critical of her team's performance, but still agreed that the team's true focus is a strong showing at the Patriot Invitational.
"We didn't swim our best times, but we're going to be ready for the George Mason meet where we'll shave, wear our fast skins, and get well rested," Halligan said. "I think we're on track to do really well in our next meet."
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