While snow fell on Duke’s campus, the Blue Devils braved the ice for a trip down Tobacco Road for a rivalry matchup against North Carolina.
No. 20 Duke women’s swim fell to the 17th-ranked Tar Heels 178-114, while the men’s side fell to No. 12 North Carolina 211.5-80.5 at Koury Natatorium.
With a little over a month to go until the highly-competitive ACC Championships — where the Blue Devils will face off against swimming powerhouses like Virginia and N.C. State — every race counts.
As always, Duke put on a show in the relay events, earning the team early points and momentum against the Tar Heels. The women’s 200-yard medley A-relay is always an unstoppable force; the team of Ali Pfaff, Kaelyn Gridley, Kyanh Truong and Tatum Wall blew past the NCAA A cut of 1:36.24 to touch the wall at 1:35.11. Notably, Wall put up an incredible performance in the freestyle leg of the relay, with a 21.33 second split, a personal best time for the Ashburn, Va., native.
Although this does not qualify as an official time, as it was swam in a relay, a 21.33 puts the 6-foot swimmer just under the NCAA A time of 21.58. Wall’s current official best time is a 21.79 — an NCAA B cut — swam at the Wolfpack Invitational this past November, making it likely for the Blue Devil to secure the A cut at a later meet this season.
For the rest of the meet however, North Carolina dominated. The Duke men notched only one first place finish: Kalen Anbar swam a 1:50.70 in the 200-yard Individual Medley, followed by Michael Jiang at 1:51.46. However, this race was only scored as a first and second place combination for the Blue Devils because all of the Tar Heel swimmers were considered exhibition swimmers — meaning their performances were not eligible for points. Up against their times, Anbar would have fallen to third place, and Jiang to fourth.
Gridley secured much-needed points for the women’s side of the competition with a decisive win in her signature 200-yard breaststroke. The Olympic Trials finalist notched a 2:08.75, which sits about halfway between the NCAA A and B standards. Gridley secured the A cut a few months prior at the Wolfpack Invitational with a 2:05.71, just .02 seconds faster than the NCAA standard. The Wilmette, Ill., native touched the wall over three seconds ahead of the second place finisher, Skyler Smith of North Carolina.
The junior powerhouse also placed first in the 100-yard breaststroke, touching the wall at 58.14.
Michigan transfer Charlie Morici held his own in the 100-yard freestyle, securing third place on the podium behind the Tar Heels’ Patrick Hussey and PJ Foy. The North Carolina men’s squad is especially strong in the sprint freestyle department, so a podium finish for Duke remains impressive.
Wall also scored crucial points for the women’s squad in the 100-yard freestyle, placing second with a time of 48.67, right behind North Carolina’s Georgia Nel’s 48.38. Wall currently has secured an NCAA B qualifying time, and sits around two seconds away from the A qualifying time.
The Blue Devils look to race against Georgia Tech — ranked 21st on the men’s side of competition — this weekend.
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