Screaming fans no longer will be heard at Mike Peppe Aquatic Center, as the No. 23 Ohio State men’s swimming and diving team wrapped up its home season this weekend – and ended competition forever at Peppe pool.
In their final weekend in the pool, OSU defeated Michigan State 127-102 Friday, but suffered their first loss of the year Saturday, falling 125-118 to No. 6 Michigan.
Friday’s match-up against MSU featured many strong performances.
OSU (9-1, 2-1 Big Ten) started the meet with first- and second-place finishes in the 200-yard medley relay. Senior Ryan Sciortino swam a season-best time of 9:34.92 in the 1,000-yard freestyle. Sophomore Joe Doyle won the 200-yard freestyle, while freshman Matt Voelker followed Doyle with a win of his own in the 50-yard freestyle. Senior Tommy Seay placed first in both the 200-yard individual medley and the 100-yard freestyle. The win in the 100-yard freestyle was Seay’s ninth consecutive victory in that event.
Sophomore R.J. Lemyre, freshman Daniel Novak and freshman Ben Prater swept the 100-yard backstroke, while sophomore Nate King finished first in the 500-yard freestyle with a season-best time of 4:26.88.
The divers had a successful evening, taking the top four spots in both the 1- and 3-meter diving events. Senior Mitch Richeson placed first in the 1-meter board, followed by juniors Nick Hanneman and Marc Dreyer and sophomore Kellen Harkness. Dreyer took first in the 3-meter board, followed by Harkness, Richeson and Hanneman.
After the win against MSU, the Buckeyes went into Saturday’s meet with a 9-0 record overall, 2-0 in the Big Ten.
Many Buckeye fans showed up for the historical meet against Michigan, as well as the cheerleaders, Brutus Buckeye and OSU alumnus Bob Bartels, who swam and coached for OSU.
Before the meet, six seniors were honored at their last home meet and a tribute was made to the history of Peppe pool and the Mike Peppe legacy, a former OSU swim coach for whom the pool was named after.
The Buckeyes swept both the 1-meter and 3-meter diving events for the second consecutive time. Richeson won both events scoring 381.52 in the 1-meter and 329.40 in the 3-meter. Harkness and Hanneman placed second and third, respectively, in the 1-meter, while Dreyer placed second in the 3-meter, followed by Harkness.
The Buckeyes also swept the 400-yard freestyle relay, had two individual winners and recorded eight season-best times.
The winning 400-yard freestyle relay team finished in 3:00.97 and included Voelker, sophomore Michael Byrnes, Seay and Doyle.
“The 400 free relay was a key performance,” coach Bill Wadley said. “We almost beat the pool record. I challenged them. I thought we might have a shot at it.
“I told the guys just before the last relays that we have two events left in the pool forever. Let’s have some fun. Let’s enjoy this experience and get the best out of this moment. I think they did. They had fun on the relays and it showed that they all swam well. All three relays swam well,” he said.
Individual winners included Voelker in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 20.69 and senior Rob Kauscher in the 200-yard breaststroke with 2:01.88.
“Kauscher’s breaststroke was a key performance,” Wadley said.
Another key performance was the 200-medley relay, which was the season’s fastest time in a dual meet.
“Our backstrokers really did a great job,” Wadley said. “Those are all best times for those guys, King and Lemyre.”
Despite the loss, Wadley said he was still proud of the team.
“The loss doesn’t really hurt that much when your kids do well, when the team swims well,” he said. “We had a lot of season-best times. We were tough on the relays. It’s great to see our seniors go out on a good note. They all swam well.”
Tommy Seay and Rob Kauscher are both seniors who said goodbye to Peppe pool and will soon say goodbye to Buckeye swimming.
“It’s sad because we’re almost done with our collegiate careers,” Seay said. “But it’s a good day too. It was a really close meet. We stepped it up against a highly ranked national team, and we’ve achieved a lot of our goals this season as far getting ranked and being competitive. I think we proved today that Ohio State is on a new path of success.”
Seay said he thinks the new Bill and Mae McCorkle Aquatics Pavilion, which opens next year, will benefit OSU swimming and diving.
“I think that everybody should just get ready for Ohio State swimming,” he said. “I think that next year and in the years to come, the new facility will bring in new recruits, faster swimming (and) it’s going to totally boost the morale of the team as far as being more determined on their goals. I think the team’s going to be on it’s way in a couple of years.”
Kauscher said he can still not believe Saturday was his last meet.
“I don’t think it’s really hit me yet,” he said. “It seems like it’s just another meet. It’ll really hit me once they tear the building down and I’m not swimming everyday in it.”
He said the meet was exciting because of the fans.
“A lot of people came out for it, which was great,” he said. “The enthusiasm of the crowd really helps. It really made it more of a fun atmosphere and easier to swim.”
The Buckeyes travel to Penn State next weekend to take on the Nittany Lions in their last Big Ten meet of the season before the Big Ten Championships.
