Swimmers and divers capture six individual titles at UAA meet

The men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams traveled to Case Western Reserve University last week to compete at the University Athletic Association (UAA) championships. Over the three-day event, the men’s team amassed 1208.5 points to place third overall while Emory University took the championship with 1724 points. New York University placed second (1229 points), and Washington University took fourth place with 1194.5 points. At last year’s championship, the men’s team finished in fourth place.

The women’s team accumulated 1044.5 points earning them a fourth-place finish overall. Emory, NYU, and Wash. U. took gold, silver, and bronze with 1887, 1349.5, and 1333.5 points, respectively. The women’s team also took fourth place in last year’s UAA championships.

On the first day of competition, the women’s 200-yard freestyle relay team of senior Jenny Sieger, first-year Sara Andrews, sophomore Allison Retotar, and junior Lauren Connell took second — breaking a school record — with a time of 1:38.73.

“The 200-meter freestyle relay... was a great race and our highest-placing relay,” Connell said. “We have a lot of really talented sprinters and it’s great to see the underclassmen stepping up and really contributing to a great relay.”

The men’s 200-yard freestyle relay team of juniors Patrick Snyder and Michael Bailey, sophomore Ron Papa, and senior Dave Krzeminski also finished in second place with a time of 1:25.05.

Sieger grasped her second straight individual UAA title in the 50-yard freestyle, breaking the pool record with a time of 24.00. Connell came in fifth place with a personal best time of 24.73.

The women’s 400-yard medley relay team of sophomore Colleen Murphy, juniors Alex Kinzler and Anna Kochalko, and Retotar took third, clocking in a time of 4:05.27.

First-year diver Matt Kuhn took his first UAA title, winning the men’s one-meter diving event with 382.35 points. Fellow first-year diver Joe Kopko finished third in the event with 333.70 points. Kuhn’s win is the first time in Carnegie Mellon history that a men’s diver has captured the individual title.

Other notable finishes on Thursday were Kinzler’s fourth-place finish in the women’s 200-yard IM (2:13.50) and Snyder’s fifth-place finish in the men’s 50-yard freestyle (21.41).

On Friday, Krzeminski won his first individual UAA title in the 100-yard butterfly, setting a pool and personal record with a time of 49.89.

Kochalko continued her success, placing second in the 400-yard IM with a time of 4:39.30. Kinzler tied University of Chicago swimmer Cassie O’Neill for second place in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:07.53. Kinzler’s time is a national ‘B’ cut time.

First-year Andrew Weitz also made the national ‘B’ cut, taking fourth in the 400-yard IM with a time of 4:07.52. First-year John Johnson swam to fifth place in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 53.25.

The women’s 200-yard medley relay and 800-yard freestyle relay teams both took fourth place with times of 1:51.29 and 8:02.38, respectively. The 200-yard team consisted of Murphy, Kinzler, Sieger, and Connell, while the 800-yard team consisted of Connell, Andrews, Kochalko, and Retotar.

The men’s 800-yard freestyle relay team of Krzeminski, Snyder, junior Andy Douglass, and Bailey also took fourth place (6:54.83) to secure another national ‘B’ cut time.

On the last day of competition, three Tartans captured individual titles. Kinzler won the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:24.15, breaking a pool record. Krzeminski took the 200-yard butterfly to secure his second individual title. His time of 1:49.76 broke the previous UAA record of 1:50.90 and was a national provisional ‘A’ cut.

Kuhn won the three-meter diving event with 388.20 points, while Kopko took third (360.50). Sophomore diver Charlotte Jennings took fourth in the women’s three-meter diving event with 365.45 points.

The men’s and women’s 400-yard freestyle relay teams placed third with times of 3:06.42 and 3:37.69, respectively. The men’s team consisted of Krzeminski, Snyder, sophomore Brad Henderson and Bailey, while the women’s team consisted of Connell, Sieger, Andrews, and Retotar.

Johnson and Moorby took fourth and sixth in the men’s 200-yard backstroke with times of 1:54.89 and 1:55.96, respectively. Connell added a fifth-place finish in the 100-yard freestyle (53.18), which is a national provisional ‘B’ cut time. First-year Andrew Seo rounded out the Tartan scoring with a fifth-place finish in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:09.66).

“UAAs this year was one of the best and most exciting I’ve been to in the past three years here on the team,” Connell said. “The Case pool isn’t exactly the best for a big meet. The bleachers are overcrowded and the deck is cold, but the competitive atmosphere was amazing. As a team, I think we accomplished everything we set out to do.”

For their performances, Krzeminski was named Men’s Swimmer of the Year, Kuhn was named Men’s Diver of the Year, and dive coach Alicia Gorman was named Men’s Dive Coach of the Year.