Four Ohio swimmers traveled to Austin, Texas, to participate in the 2025 Toyota U.S. Open Championships this weekend. The Bobcats competed in six events, qualifying for finals in all six. It was a successful trip to the Lone Star State for Ohio, as it competed on the highest level against some elite schools.
The Toyota U.S. Open is a swimming-only event, and Ohio saw four of its best swimmers take to the water to compete.
Friday began with Casadie DiBetta swimming in the 100-meter breaststroke. She set a new personal best time of 1:10.08, qualifying for the event’s B Final. She improved her time further in the final to a time of 1:09.93, finishing 10th overall in the event.
Also on Friday, All-American junior Zita Szoke qualified for the finals in the 200m freestyle. She reached the B Final with a qualifying time of 2:02.31, which she improved to a time of 2:01.64 in the finals, good for 13th in the event.
Saturday saw all four Ohio swimmers compete. Jordan Claypoole made the C Final in the 50-meter butterfly, where she set a personal best of 27.94 and finished 22nd. Juliana Slaninka made the B final in the 200m backstroke with a qualifying time of 2:18.81, and finished with a 15th-place time of 2:18.05.
DiBetta again improved her personal best twice, this time in the 200m breaststroke, qualifying for the B Final with a time of 2:33.67. She finished 10th in the finals after improving to a time of 2:32.37.
Szoke rounded out the Bobcats’ weekend with the strongest performance of any Ohio swimmer. Her time of 54.94 in the 100-meter freestyle qualified her for the A Final. She ended up swimming a time of 54.96 in the final, getting her 8th place and taking home a medal for Ohio.
The competition against some of the nation’s best will be beneficial as Ohio has reached the halfway point of the season and is beginning preparations for the Mid-American Conference and NCAA championships.
With the divers getting a break with this swimming-only event, they will be next to compete as the Bobcats will travel north to a MAC foe against Buffalo for a diving-only event starting on Jan. 8 and ending on Jan. 10.
Ohio’s next meet will be at home on Friday, Jan. 16, where the Bobcats swimmers and divers will host Senior Day against Bowling Green.
The Bobcats have done well in MAC play up to this point in the season, notching two wins against Buffalo and a win over Ball State while also earning a victory over a former MAC member in Marshall.
