The Jackets faced off against the Duke Blue Devils in their last home meet of the season. Tech performed admirably throughout the meet and won 24 events over the course of the weekend. The men defeated the Blue Devils 258-102 while the Lady Jackets fell short, losing 201-167. The meet celebrated the 16 graduating seniors and their successful swimming careers.
After the first meet of 2025 resulted in a split, a loss to Auburn and a win over Carson-Newman, the Jackets hoped to redeem themselves against the Duke Blue Devils on the third weekend of January. The Jackets and Blue Devils last met in the ACC Championships last February. In that meeting, the male Jackets finished ninth, one spot above the Blue Devils. The Lady Jackets also came in ninth, but the Blue Devils performed admirably, which resulted in a fifth-place finish in the conference for them. Tech looked to better their results from last year and beat Duke in both categories.
On day one, the Jackets performed well, winning 12 out of the 20 events. At the end of the day, the Jackets had a strong 160-45 lead on the men’s side. Senior Mert Kilavuz set the tone for the day, winning the 1650-yard freestyle and securing Tech’s first individual event victory of the meet. Senior Berke Saka led the way for the men; he secured wins in the 100-yard backstroke and 200-yard individual medley, boasting impressive times of 47.09 and 1:45.20, respectively. In diving, sophomore Max Fowler collected two more victories of his own in the 1-meter and platform dives. Freshman Uros Zivanovic secured a win in the 100-yard breaststroke to add to an impressive trophy case, which includes a junior world championship in 2022. Alongside the individual event victories, Tech’s men collected two more wins in both the 200-meter medley and 400-meter freestyle relays. The male Jackets looked to show that last year’s ACC Championship was no fluke and look to secure the victory over Duke on Saturday.
The Lady Jackets fought hard but were unable to muster the performances to lead at the end of day one, and Tech was down 113-77 to Duke. Senior Sophie Murphy impressed in the 200-yard freestyle, winning the event and clocking in at 1:46.57. The Lady Jackets also performed admirably in the 400 and 200-meter relays securing second place in both events.
The Jackets started day two strong, with both the women and men claiming first place in the 400-yard medley relay. Tech used the momentum gained in the first two events to claim 12 victories, matching the number from day one.
The men’s team continued their dominance from day one, Tech swept the podium in two events. Kilavuz, junior Charles Perks, and freshman Lukas Vetkoetter took the podium in the 500-yard freestyle. The 100-yard butterfly was much the same with sophomore Ricky Balduccini, junior Stephen Jones, and senior Antonio Romero taking the honors. Saka continued to show his pace by winning the 200-yard backstroke. Sophomore Robin Yeboah and Vetkoetter rounded the winners on the men’s side in the 100-yard freestyle and 400-yard individual medley, respectively. The men’s strong performance led to an emphatic 258-102 victory over the Blue Devils.
The ladies’ team looked to overcome the slight deficit to Duke on day two. After a successful first relay, the Jackets looked to use the momentum for the rest of the day. Tech swept the podium in the 200-yard backstroke with junior Phoebe Wright, freshman Elisabeth Erlendsdottir, and graduate student Emma Hixenbaugh taking the honors. The team of junior Anna Hadjiloizou, freshman Nina Stanisavljevic, junior Kiah Smith, and Murphy rounded out the day with a relay victory in the 200-yard freestyle. Despite the strong performances throughout, the Lady Jackets were unable to overcome the Blue Devils and fell 201-167.
The meet celebrated the 16 seniors that will graduate in the spring. The group pushed the program to new heights with many school records being claimed by the decorated group of seniors.
After the split meet with Duke, the Jackets visit Columbia, S.C. to take on the South Carolina Gamecocks on Jan. 25. Tech’s final regular season meet of the season is the Auburn First Chance on Feb. 7-8. The Jackets are looking to build momentum prior to the ACC Championships in February in hopes of securing spots in the NCAA Championship.
The post Swim and Dive split dual on Senior Night appeared first on Technique.