CHRISTIAN LAUTENSCHLEGER/THE LANTERNMembers of the Ohio State women’s swim team compete during the Nov. 1 meet against Kenyon. The OSU women’s team lost both of their meets last weekend.Although the men’s team defeated Missouri, they lost to Indiana.
Final team scores for the No. 10 Buckeyes were 163-137 with the No. 8 Hoosiers on top, and 246-54 against the No. 22 Tigers, making OSU 7-1 for the season and 0-1 in the Big Ten.
Senior Felipe Travesso was a leader for the Buckeyes, winning the 100 breaststroke in 53.79 seconds and gaining two second-place finishes, one for the 200-yard medley relay with Andrew Elliott, Andrew Bretscher and Joel Elber, and the other in the 200 freestyle relay with Bretshcer, Elber and Andrew Olson.
“Last week was a tough loss,” Travesso said. “We’ve been training hard for our next meets and we want to make sure everyone corrects small details that will make us better.”
If the Buckeyes sweep their next two meets, they will have only a one-loss season going into the Big Ten Championships in February.
Men’s coach Bill Wadley said the team will focus on speed and power, which will allow them to win close races.
“We have to win at least half of the events to have a chance at the top,” said Wadley. “I’m confident that these guys can do it. I’m real happy with the team. They’re a great group and they’re a lot of fun to coach.”
Among the top performers for the men’s squad was a trio of sophomores: Quincy Lee in the 200 butterfly (1:47.45), Elliott Keefer in the 200 breaststroke (1:58.27) and Justin Farra in the 400 individual medley (3:54.61). Junior Burkley Showe came out on top in the three-meter diving competition with 369.00 points.
For the women’s squad, the competition was tougher. The unranked Buckeyes lost 215-84 to No. 11 Indiana and 207-93 to No. 23 Missouri. The team fell to 4-2 for the season and 0-1 in the Big Ten.
Coach Bill Dorenkott said Saturday’s meet was the toughest to date.
“The girls were very solid against some tough teams,” he said. “They are showing excellent growth and we’re really focusing on getting them ready for the Big Ten championships and NCAA’s.”
Samantha Cheverton led the way for the Buckeyes with three runner-up finishes in the 100 and 200 backstroke (56.03 and 1:58.73) and the 100 butterfly (55.34). The sophomore also placed fourth on the 200-yard medley relay team with Courtney Brayman, Catherine Eitel and Lisa Narum.
Cheverton said it can be challenging to swim so many events, but after a good race, it’s easy to get pumped for the next one.
“You never really know exactly which events you’ll be in until right before the meet,” she said. “We just train as hard as we can at every practice.”
Another swimmer who stood out Saturday was Natalie Nichols in the 1,650 freestyle. The freshman earned a second-place finish with her career-best time of 16:56.66. In addition, she placed fourth in the 500 freestyle with a time of 4:55.50.
“As long as I continue to develop my technique and stay strong and positive, I think I have a lot of prospect for the future,” Nichols said.
Other third-place finishers for the OSU women were freshman Catherine Eitel in the 100 breaststroke (1:06.13) and sophomore Kristen Asman in the three-meter diving competition with 297.05 points.
Next week, the women’s team travels to Ann Arbor, Mich., for a dual meet against Michigan. Although it is a tough team, Dorenkott said that if his swimmers “believe in themselves and each other,” they can come out with a strong finish.
The men’s squad gets the weekend off, which they will use to prepare for their two-day quad meet against Penn State, Northwestern and Michigan Jan. 30-31.
“This break is very important to us,” said Wadley. “We will continue to train just as hard but we also want the guys to focus on schoolwork and get ahead academically, which is the most important reason why they’re here.”
J Margaret Stahl can be reached at [email protected].
