“Relentless.”
That’s the word that junior Audrey Portello — named meet caption — chose for Duke’s dual meet against Northwestern this weekend. It couldn’t have been more accurate.
Anticipation filled the air as the Blue Devils prepared for the second day of a tense two-day battle against the Wildcats in their home Taishoff Aquatics Center. After Friday’s performance, the women held a close 98-66 lead ahead of Northwestern, while the men had fallen behind with 116.5-49.5 on the scoreboard. Grit and determination were the name of the game; the meet was defined by milliseconds.
In some cases, the Blue Devils’ biggest opponents were themselves. A number of swimmers notched their first NCAA cuts of the season, while others fell just tenths of a second short but still recorded personal bests. In the end, Duke split the meet against Northwestern: The Blue Devil women beat the Wildcats 194-137 while the men trailed them 225.5-107.5
“We went best times today. I can't complain,” head coach Brian Barnes said afterwards.
Portello kicked off Saturday morning with an electric race in the 500-yard freestyle — a notoriously grueling event. The Davis, Calif., native touched the wall second, at 4:48.38 — her best time by nearly eight seconds. For the entire back half of the race, Portello remained only a few strokes ahead of Wildcat Zoe Nordmann, and although Nordmann eventually took the lead, the race was still a personal victory for Portello.
“I've really gotten to know Audrey in the last year and a half, and it's been terrific to watch her growth as an athlete in her maturity and then her poise,” Barnes said.
After focusing on backstroke for most of the early season, sophomore Ali Pfaff dropped .03 seconds from her 50-yard freestyle to capture her NCAA B cut of 22.58. Pfaff also met the B cut for the 100-yard freestyle, dropping .87 for a best time of 49.14. She finished third in both events, a promising indication of her future performances this season.
Graduate student Yugo Tsukikawa’s 500-yard freestyle mirrored that of Portello’s. Tsukikawa took a late lead from Northwestern’s Josh Staples, but was overtaken by Staples in the last fifty yards of the race. Yugo touched second at a 4:30.03, with a 1.73 second drop, followed closely by freshman Owen Markowitz in third with a 4:30.95 — a 3.31 drop for the Mountain Lakes, N.J., native. The Duke rookie impressively kept up with his older teammate through the entire race.
The Blue Devil women closed out the meet with a podium sweep from Portello, graduate student Kyra Sommerstad and junior Martina Peroni. The three Duke women left the Wildcats in the dust early in the race for a dominant victory. Portello touched first at 4:14.54, followed by Sommerstad at 4:15.65 and Peroni in third, at 4:16.52. Sommerstad and Peroni clinched best times by 6.99 and 7.21 seconds, respectively.
The long list of best times was especially impressive considering that the Blue Devils had morning practice and weights training Friday morning. When they took to the pool in tech suits, collected NCAA cuts and shattered a pool record, no one could tell.
“I was very intentional,” Barnes said, “You have to learn how to navigate suiting up and doing it in a way where you could leave room for improvement in two weeks from now.”
Duke’s 400-yard medley impressed with its versatility to kick off the meet Friday afternoon. Pfaff cruised to an easy lead in the backstroke leg, while Kaelyn Gridley pulled far ahead in the breaststroke, leaving Aleyna Ozkan and Tatum Wall plenty of room to secure the win in the back half of the race. The Blue Devils came out on top with a time of 3:30.46 and set a new pool record in Taishoff. The men’s team followed with second- and third-place podium finishes in the same event.
Meanwhile, Duke’s divers sprung to success of their own with Friday’s warmups still underway in the main pool. An enthusiastic row of students perched above the diving well cheered Margo O’Meara and Yannis Schattman towards the first Blue Devil points of the contest. O’Meara starred in the 3-meter with a first-place score of 358.58, each of her dives punctuated with whoops and applause from impressed fans. Then Schattman took to the board in the 1-meter, securing a first-place finish of his own with a score of 354.83. On Saturday, Schattman repeated his early performance, securing first again with 375.38 in the 3-meter event. Also on Saturday, freshman Keira Lu, claimed second behind Margo O’ Meara in the 1-meter event with a score of 313.65 for O’ Meara and 295.20 for Lu.
The Blue Devil women continued to dominate and outshine the Wildcats throughout Friday’s races, delivering first-place finishes in all but one individual event. Senior Yixuan Chang set the tone in a fiery head-to-head battle in the 200-yard freestyle, touching first with a time of 1:47.10 and receiving the most explosive cheers of Friday night.
In the 100-yard backstroke, sophomore Molly Donlan and freshman Claire Logan took the top two spots on the podium, with Donlan finishing first in a time of 53.94. Gridley once again took a decisive first-place spot in the 100-yard breaststroke, while Wall commanded the 50 yard freestyle with her time of 22.07.
“Our women's team is just quietly very good.” said Barnes.
The 200-yard butterfly was another close contest, with junior Martina Peroni and graduate student Kyra Sommerstead fighting for first and second place. Both outpaced the Wildcats in the last 50 yards, and Peroni posted a lightning 1:56.62 to walk away with the win.
The men recorded several admirable swims but struggled to get their hand on the wall first, falling just short of victory in each of Friday night’s races. Tsukikawa claimed an early lead in the 200-yard butterfly, but fell behind in the last 50 yards and touched in with a third-place time of 1:48.41. Sophomores Kalen Anbar and Jack Smith formed the base of the podium in the 100-yard breaststroke, taking second- and third-place finishes, while the Blue Devil men claimed second place in the 800-yard relay. Milo Shue rounded out the first day’s individual competition with a third-place 20.54 in the 50-yard freestyle.
“For our men’s team, there's a world of difference than last year.” said Barnes.
Duke looks forward to the NCAA Mid-Season Invitational in Greensboro, N.C, Nov. 21-23.
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Abby DiSalvo is a Trinity sophomore and assistant Blue Zone editor of The Chronicle's 120th volume.