On Friday, Jan. 19, the Oakland Swim and Dive team impressed against the Saginaw Valley State University (SVSU) Cardinals and the Hope College Flying Dutchmen at the Oakland Aquatics Center.
The men’s team outscored the Cardinals 180-112 and bested the Flying Dutchmen 235-47, while the women’s team defeated the Cardinals 200-97 and the Flying Dutchmen 227-72. The win comes six days after OU defeated the Xavier Musketeers at home.
The meet spanned 32 events and featured a variety of competitions. From the 1000 Free to the 200 Back and the 400 Free Relay, nothing was off the table in this three-team meet. Notably, most events featured at least two heats among men and women.
For the men, Christian Bart improved his event wins from 14 to 15 on the season. Jack Wike and Micah Scheffer also took home two event wins in the meet. Wike improved on seven wins from five, and Scheffer reinforced his win total to six from four.
As for the women, Jordyn Shipps won three events in the meet, bolstering her event wins from nine to 12. Furthermore, Mia Englender and Sam Thiessen improved their season totals to five wins and four wins, respectively.
In addition to great performances in the lanes, Ellie Chalifoux and Liam James commanded the diving board. Chalifoux placed first in 3-meter diving and 1-meter diving, while James took second in 3-meter diving and first in 1-meter diving.
The meet started with a 200 Medley Relay. Both the women and the men competed in two separate heats and promptly dominated their opponents.
First, the women’s ‘C’ and ‘D’ teams took the pool and managed first and second placements, respectively, in their heat. Following the impressive start, the ‘A’ team overtook SVSU’s ‘A’ team on the final lap, while the ‘B’ team placed third during their heat.
Next, the men’s ‘C’ and ‘D’ teams dominated, placing first and second, and the Grizzlies impressed again in the next heat. The ‘A’ and ‘B’ teams held first and second for the majority of the race until SVSU’s ‘A’ team overtook OU’s ‘B’ team for second place in the final lap.
With the 1000 Free next, it was a thriller for both the women and the men. In the women’s race, Englender and Lola Laenen competed. Despite being in third place early in the race, Englender came all the way back to finish first, clocking in at 10:29.82, while Laenen finished in fourth with a time of 10:49.38.
As for the men, Jonas Cantrell and Kieron Bezuidenhout held second and third place throughout the majority of the race. But as the race neared its end, Cantrell was right behind Cardinal swimmer Benjamin Wainman and finished just 0.23 seconds short of first with a final time of 9:16.68. Bezuidenhout finished in third place, clocking in at 9:51.21.
The last event of the meet was the 400 Free Relay. This event was once again under the complete control of the Grizzlies.
In the women’s first heat, the ‘C’ team finished first, and in the second heat, the ‘A’ team followed up with yet another first-place finish. On the other hand, the men’s ‘C’ team clinched first, while the ‘A’ team concluded the meet with another victory.
Next, the swim and dive team will battle the Cleveland State University Vikings on the road on Friday, Jan. 26, before competing in the Horizon League Championships in Indianapolis, Ind., from Wednesday, Feb. 14, until Saturday, Feb 17.