In the season opener for the diving and women’s teams, Duke dove in against Virginia Tech at home in Taishoff Aquatics Center. Amongst a sea of parents donned in royal blue, the women’s squad defeated the Hokies 165-135, while the men suffered a 79.5-220.5 loss.
Senior diver Margo O’Meara kicked off the meet with a pool record of 380.18 in the 3-meter event, breaking the decade-old score of 377.85 set in 2010 by Abby Johnston. O’ Meara enters the collegiate season fresh off an impressive performance at the U.S Olympic Trials in Knoxville, Tenn., this past summer; the St. Louis native came in 11th overall in the 3-meter dive. O’Meara’s pool record is especially impressive considering that the diver has been back in the pool for less than a year following a set of double shoulder surgeries that put her on a nearly-two-year long hiatus from diving.
On the swimming side of the afternoon, Duke entered the meet facing two very different sets of challengers. The 16th-ranked Blue Devil women faced off against the unranked Hokies, while the unranked Duke men faced No. 10 Virginia Tech.
The men’s team struggled to keep up with the Hokies, often just missing the podium. However, Senior Michael Jiang’s races told a much different story. The Woodbrige, Va., native provided a much needed set of victories for the Blue Devil men, notching a 49.07 for a first-place tie in the 100-yard backstroke and a 1:47.70 win in the 200-yard backstroke. Jiang was the only member of the men’s squad to notch a win against Virginia Tech. These results mirror those of the Duke-Virginia Tech showdown last October, with the Blue Devil men falling to the Hokies by a 46-point margin, but with a standout individual performance from Jiang.
The Duke women started the meet with a dominant performance in the 400-yard medley relay. The team of Ali Pfaff, Kaelyn Gridley, Aleyna Okzan and Tatum Wall featured all three of the swimmers that the Blue Devils sent to the Olympic Trials this past summer (Okzan did not attend). This all-star team posted a 3:38.20, with a two second lead off Virginia Tech’s 3:40.20.
However, Duke struggled to build off of its momentum from the relay and was off to a slow start, with the Blue Devil women lagging a few points behind Virginia Tech until the 200-yard butterfly. In a fiery heat, the Duke women swept the podium moving the Blue Devils ahead of the Hokies, where they stayed for the rest of the meet. Junior Martina Peroni claimed the winning time of 2:00.79, followed by graduate transfer Kyra Sommerstad with a 2:02.02, and a 2:05.53 from junior Isabella Abrajan. Both Peroni and Sommerstad were part of another Duke podium sweep in the 400-yard individual medley. Junior Audrey Portello placed first in that event with 4:22.24, followed by Sommerstad at 4:22.64, and Peroni at 4:25.79.
Sommerstad, the Ohio State transfer, is proving to be an excellent addition to the Blue Devils, alongside freshmen Clare Logan and Ava Ippoliti, who both secured podium finishes in their first meet under the Duke banner. Logan was also part of the winning 200-yard freestyle relay team.
Sophomore standout Ali Pfaff fought her way to first in the 200-yard backstroke, earning a roar from the crowd as she pulled ahead of Virginia Tech’s Emma Atkinson in the final fifty yards. The Lexington, Va., native touched the wall at 1:55.48, coming back from a .63 second deficit behind Atkinson at the 150-yard mark.
Once again, junior Kaelyn Gridley dominated the breaststroke competition, with decisive wins in the 100-yard and 200-yard breaststroke. In the 200-yard event, Gridley finished ahead of Hokie Nichelly Brano Lysy by over two seconds. Gridley comes off a scorchingly fast summer at the Olympic Trials, with fifth place finishes in both the 100-yard and 200-yard events.
Duke looks to take on unranked South Carolina next week back at home in Taishoff.
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