The Ohio State men’s and women’s swim and dive teams dominated their first home meet of the season, with both teams easily beating West Virginia and Louisville in dual meets at Peppe Aquatic Center in Larkins Hall Friday.
The men beat West Virginia 130-107 and Louisville 166-69. The women triumphed over West Virginia 169.5-65.5 and Louisville 171-62.
For the OSU men, the meet was their first of the year. The OSU men won nine out of the 11 events and had at least one man in the top three of each race.
The team credited much of its success to team unity.
“We had excellent teammanship, our team support was awesome,” men’s coach Bill Wadley said.
Sophomore Marty Tomes, winner of the 200-yard butterfly and the 400-yard medley relay along with Rob Kauscher, Andreas Campioni and Adam Braun, said the younger guys gave the team a big lift.
“We had a lot of good cheering, especially out of our freshmen,” Tomes said. He said the upperclassmen came through for the team as well.
Junior Tommy Seay agreed with Tomes.
“I thought the cheering and the team atmosphere and the picking up of some of the swimmers who didn’t do so well (Friday) was outstanding,” Seay said.
Seay won the 100-yard freestyle after falling just short of winning the 200-yard freestyle.
“I went into the 200 free a little too nervous,” Seay said. “I kind of tested myself to see how I’d roll back from a loss.”
On the women’s side, the OSU team controlled the entire meet, winning every single event.
“I’m really happy, we’ve been working really hard,” women’s coach Jeanne Fleck said.
One of the highlights of the evening for the women came in the 200-yard breaststroke where the Buckeyes finished one, two, three, led by freshman Rebekah Rychvalsky. She was followed by senior Stephanie Raezer and freshman Liz Osterer. Fleck said it was the first one, two, three finish for the women at OSU since she’s been the coach.
Raezer, who also won the 1000 freestyle and finished second in the 500-yard freestyle, said the team was excited about the win.
“It was the best thing ever,” Raezer said. “Just to see where our weaknesses were last year is now our strength.”
Sophomore Nicole Maglich, winner of the 200 and 500-yard freestyle, said the freshmen played a big part in the win.
“We have a lot of new talent this year and that’s pretty much what made this go well,” Maglich said.
In addition to Rychvalsky, who won the 200 breaststroke, other victorious freshmen included Gulsah Gunenc, who won the 200-yard butterfly and Julie Broms, winner of the one and three meter diving competition.
