For Duke’s seniors, Friday’s matchup against Queens was more than just another meet. It was a final chance to dive into the pool at Taishoff Aquatics Pavilion and touch the wall as a winner.
Even as four years of Blue Devil swimming and diving neared a nostalgic end, the spirited seniors prepared to deliver one last victory at home. Energy rippled through the air as they ran onto the pool deck, triumphantly waiting, ready to prove their leadership and speed in the season’s closing dual meet.
And prove it they did. Duke defeated Queens 171.5-63.5 on the women’s side, while the men took down the Royals 127-109 for their first win of the season.
The seniors showcased stunning grit and quick times from the first to final race. In the opening 200-yard medley relay, senior powerhouses Emily Lenihan, Sarah Foley and Aleyna Ozkan joined junior KyAhn Truong to place first with a time of 1:38.45. Then, during the afternoon’s last event, Foley, Truong, Ali Pfaff and Tatum Wall clocked an impressive 1:29.89 to break the pool record in the 200-yard freestyle relay.
Senior Catherine Purnell took on the women’s 400-yard individual medley, one of the most grueling races of the day. The Manassas, Va., native grabbed an early lead in the butterfly leg and managed to stay ahead throughout the backstroke, butterfly and freestyle. Her time of 4:16.01 secured the first-place finish, while teammate Audrey Portello took second with 4:18.74.
Ozkan showed off her butterfly dominance one last time, finishing first in the 100-yard race with a time of 52.67. The senior from Istanbul cruised ahead early in the race and continued to widen her lead before delivering the compelling victory.
Senior David Chang, on the other hand, was forced into a close race during his final 100-yard butterfly at home. Though powerful underwaters and a smooth stroke granted him a slim lead early on, Queens swimmer Yannick Plasil powered through the last 25 yards until he matched Chang stroke-for-stroke. In an impossibly close finish, Chang’s time of 48.23 beat out Plasil’s 48.26 by a razor-thin 0.03 seconds.
Purnell and Emily Gjertsen both had a chance to shine in the 500-yard freestyle. Purnell took second behind junior teammate YiXuan Chang, recording times of 4:56.18 and 4:52.81, respectively. Gjertsen finished in third at 4:59.67. In the women’s 100-yard breaststroke, senior Catherine Belyakov clocked a time of 1:01.48 to place first.
But the seniors were not the only ones with notable highlights. Sophomore JC Castrillon swam the entire 1000-yard freestyle with a comfortable lead, finishing in first with a time of 9:24.73. His time was ten seconds faster than teammate Austin Simpson, who finished in second with a finish of 9:34.97, and 18 seconds ahead of the first finisher from Queens. In the women’s race for the same event, Chang placed second while Gjersten took third.
Molly Donlan’s powerful underwater skills gave her an edge in the women’s 200-yard freestyle. The freshman from Charlotte, N.C. clung to a slim lead the entire race, touching in first with a time of 1:49.33. On her heels was teammate Martina Peroni, who finished second by a mere 0.31 milliseconds. In the men’s race, Blake Johnson battled with Queens’ Daniel Meszaros for the victory. Though the two were neck-and-neck for the first one hundred yards, Johnson managed to pull ahead in the end and finish in first.
Foley appeared alongside teammates Kaelyn Gridley, Pfaff, and Wall in a close 50-yard freestyle race. Wall took first with a time of 22.35, followed by Pfaff (22.99) and Foley (23.08). Freshman Milo Shue battled through the race for the men, but couldn’t compete with Queens’s Matej Dusa’s lightning time of 19.57 and finished in second place.
The men’s 400-yard IM saw close competition between teammates. Freshman Andrew Li stayed narrowly ahead for the first half of the race, with classmate Kalen Anbar finally overtaking him in the breaststroke. Li fought to catch up in the last one hundred yards, but ultimately finished in second with a time of 3:55.96 behind Anbar’s 3:54.73.
In the women’s 100-yard backstroke, Donlan sprinted to victory ahead of Lenihan, with times of 53.61 and 54.99, respectively. Johnson took first in the men’s 500-yard freestyle. Then Belyakov finished second for the Blue Devils in the 100 freestyle with a time of 49.14, a mere 0.07 seconds behind Queen’s Danielle Melilli.
In the diving well, junior Margo O’Meara flipped to a first-place finish in both the 1-meter and 3-meter with respective point totals of 334.50 and 338.25. She was joined on the podium by senior teammate Ali Watson, who collected second in both events. Senior diver Emily Rakestraw snagged third in the 3-meter to round out the Blue Devils’ podium finishes.
Seamus Harding Jr. dove to first in the men’s 3-meter event with a point total of 384.30. The senior from Hillsborough, N.J., also took second in the 1-meter behind teammate Will McCollum. Freshman Charlie Berman and sophomore Yannis Schattman also took home podium finishes in the events.
Though the regular season came to an end with the victory against the Royals, the Blue Devils still have meets to look forward to. They will now begin preparing for the ACC Championships, set to kick off Feb. 20 in Greensboro, N.C.
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Abby DiSalvo is a Trinity sophomore and assistant Blue Zone editor of The Chronicle's 120th volume.