Despite 10 first-place finishes and numerous personal best times, the Ohio men's and women's swimming and diving teams were swept by rival Miami in conference dual meet action Saturday.
The Bobcat women (7-3-1 overall, 3-2-1 Mid-American Conference) lost 171-125, while the Bobcat men (2-4, 1-2 MAC) dropped a 115-87 decision to the RedHawks.
Ohio Coach Greg Werner said he was really happy with the teams' performances by the number of personal- and season-best times achieved throughout the meet.
I told the team afterwards
I was very proud of them he said. They didn't lose the meet Miami won the meet.
The Ohio women had seven first place finishes on the day, including two relay victories.
Emily Wylam led the Bobcats with two individual event victories, taking both the 100 and 200 backstroke events. She set personal best times and conference-best marks in both events.
Wylam said she knew there was some really good competition going into the 200 backstroke.
I knew that I had to go out there and swim as fast as I could and try and do my best
she said. I felt the best I've felt all season when I swam that event.
Karen Liddy, Ashley Marion and Sarah Vaughn also won individual events for the Bobcats. Diver Jess Orlov placed fourth and fifth in the 1-meter and 3-meter diving events, respectively.
On the men's side, three swimmers won individual events. Donald Jupp finished first in the 50 freestyle and second in the 100 freestyle. Charlie Sparks won the 1000 freestyle and finished second in the 500 freestyle.
Jason Reutter, who took the 200 breaststroke in a season-best time of 2:08.48, said he felt good during the race and was happy with his swim.
Swimming in this meet was a little different than some of the other meets this season
he said of his first Ohio-Miami dual meet. It was fun to experience it for the first time.
In the four relay events, Werner said the men's and women's relays had good times and showed the team's depth. We're showing some great depth
and that's something you want to show and something you need to have at the championships if you want to perform well
he said. Werner said that the team is very confident after their performances Saturday. There's a lot of great things we can take out of it and it certainly puts us in a better position to beat Ball State next weekend
than we were yesterday
Werner said.
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