Zachary Grace | Staff Writer
11/09/2017
Perhaps one of Duquesne’s most consistent athletic programs over the course of the past several years has been Swimming & Diving. With two straight second place finishes in the Atlantic 10 despite not sporting a diving component, the sky’s the limit for swimming coach Dave Sheets’ program now after Duquesne announced the return of a diving team this past spring.
“Consistency in practice is breeding our consistency in winning,” Sheets said after a lopsided 168-125 Duquesne victory over Youngstown State on Nov. 4.
“I think for confidence, it’s good,” Sheets said of winning early on in the season. “I think that the most important thing for us right now is to work hard in our practices, and that’s the one thing that we’re really doing. I think that really kind of sets everything up for the meets that we’ve been swimming in.”
In Duquesne’s first meet at Towers Pool this season, the Dukes won 10 of 16 events, besting Youngstown State to improve to an unscathed 7-0 on the season.
Over the course of the weekend’s competition, freshman Emma Brinton won both the 200-yard freestyle (1:55.72) and 100-yard freestyle (54.26), and assisted in a Duquesne 200-yard medley relay team’s second-place finish (1:50.26).
For her efforts, Brinton was named Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week for the third-consecutive week. The only other Duquesne swimmer to win the award three times is Katrina Streiner, who won the award three times in 2005.
Additionally, senior Abby Watson was able to win in both of the heats that she participated in. Watson was apart of Duquesne’s 200-yard medley team that placed first, supplying her team with a 1.34 second lead. While 1.34 seconds doesn’t seem like much time, Watson’s efforts aided in the Duquesne relay team’s 2.3 second win. Watson’s second win came via the 100-yard back (59.44).
“I feel it’s always good to start a meet on a high point,” said Watson. “The fact that we were able to go one-two in that relay [was] really good for the team, … good for morale and good for all of us, too.”
The Dukes’ next event is on the road in Cleveland, Ohio, from Nov. 17-19 at the Magnus Cup, hosted by Cleveland State.
Duquesne placed second of 14 teams at CSU’s Magnus Cup last season.
