The UMBC swimming and diving squads return to action on Saturday when they take on Johns Hopkins and Delaware in Newark, Del. The meet gets underway at 1:00 p.m.
Last Time Out: Both squads opened the season on Friday, Oct. 11, hosting the Navy Midshipmen. The men dropped a hard-fought 158-128 decision, while the women fell, 171-115.
Honored: In its first swimming and diving awards of the 2019-20 season, the America East Conference tabbed UMBC sophomore Tiago Asakawa (Sumaré, Brazil) and senior Ben Parker (Lawrenceville, Ga.) Male Swimmer and Diver of the Week, respectively for competitions ending Oct. 13.
Asakawa captured one individual gold and swam a leg of both Retriever winning relays. He captured the 50-yard freestyle event in a time of 21.09 and competed on both the 200-yard medley and 400-freestyle relays teams.
Parker captured the 3-meter diving competition with a score of 236.77. He won the same event at the America East Championships as a sophomore in 2018.
Winner, Winner: Sophomore Satori Dobbie (Christchurch, New Zealand) earned UMBC's third individual gold versus Navy, rallying past two Midshipmen swimmers to win the 100 yard butterfly in a time of 51.05.
Close Calls: On the women's side, six Retrievers recorded third-place finishes. The 400 yard freestyle relay group of senior Hayley Committee (Ellicott City, Md./Howard), freshman Sierra Tosten (Hagerstown,Md./North Hagerstown), sophomore Tonia Papapertrou (Nicosia, Cyprus) and junior Natalija Marin (Belgrade, Serbia) placed second in a time of 3:34.96.
Last Year Versus Delaware/Navy: The UMBC men's and women's swimming teams opened their 2018-19 seasons with wins over Delaware and Johns Hopkins on October 6. The women defeated the Blue Hens, 167-130, and the Blue Jays, 161-124. The men beat Delaware 166-123, and Johns Hopkins, 163-125.
Of the returners on the women's side, Committe earned a first place finish in the 50 free with a time of 24.43. Seniors Abby Biddulph (Egg Harbor City, N.J.) and Devin Gromen (Crofton, Md./Arundel) went one-two in the 1 meter dive, scoring 205.27 and 192.22, respectively. The Retrievers won both the 200-medley and 400-yard freestyle relays.
For the men, sophomore Kai Wisner (Syracuse, N.Y.) earned a first place finish in the 1000 free with a time of 9:34.88 and took first in the 500 free, touching in with a time of 4:37.67. Senior Ilya Rattsev (Moscow, Russia) earned a first place finish in the 100 free with a time of 45.80.
In the 200 fly, sophomore Matt Bennici (Walkersville, Md./Walkersville) finished first in the 200 fly, touching in with a mark of 1:53.35.
Asakawa won both the 50 free (20.75) and 100 fly (50.74), while senior Luis Galvan (Torreon, Mexico) captured the 200 IM (1:56.19).
Next Up: UMBC takes a short break from its hectic early season schedule and will next visit Towson on Saturday, Nov. 2. That meet will get started at 4:00 p.m.
