Duke swimming and diving drops final dual meet at North Carolina

CHAPEL HILL—For its ultimate twin meet of the 2022-2023 season, Duke headed 20 minutes south to Koury Natatorium to face off towards North Carolina. Though Duke got here away empty-handed from Chapel Hill, dropping on the ladies’s facet 156-144 and in males’s 180-119, the Blue Devils didn’t depart with out setting off some fireworks for spectators to take pleasure in.

The Duke males obtained off to a fiery begin, stealing the 200-yard medley relay from the Tar Heels in 1:26.26, a sensational time for a twin meet. Junior David Chang, graduate scholar Cole Reznick together with seniors Brad Sanford and Charlie Gingrich beat out their time from the N.C. State Invite in November, a contest they have been totally rested for. Of word, Reznick threw down a standout break up on the breaststroke leg (23.93). Alongside along with his teammates, they’re trying good for subsequent month’s ACC Championship.

“We’ll simply proceed to sharpen over the subsequent two and a half weeks, as you stated,” Gingrich stated. “It seems to be like we’re on the correct path. So come three weeks from now, we must be able to go.”

Together with the medley relay, Duke’s backstroke crew, led by Chang and graduate scholar David Hallaron, was a spotlight for the Blue Devils. Though neither walked away with a victory on the day, they each put in sensational instances, with Chang posting a private finest within the 100-yard backstroke (48.00) and Hallaron grabbing a second-place end within the 200-yard backstroke (1:46.19). Together with sophomore Jack Christian, this crew is starting to fill a weak point that the Duke males have had up to now, and it bodes nicely for them as championship season approaches. 

For the ladies, it was a intently contested meet that went all the way down to the wire. Nevertheless, regardless of the loss, the Duke ladies introduced the warmth, highlighted by two faculty data: Kaelyn Gridley’s 100-yard breaststroke (59.12) and Martina Peroni’s 200-yard butterfly  (1:53.76), each NCAA B-Cuts.

It can’t be overstated how useful the addition of Gridley and Peroni, together with the opposite members of the category of 2026, has been for the Duke ladies. Of their first time collaborating within the heated rivalry, they left nothing within the water. 

“I believe being right here with the entire crew and the power rivaling any meet like this, and simply with the season we have had, we simply wished to place up one hell of a battle,” stated Peroni.

Following swimsuit, many different Duke upperclassmen had a spectacular day in Chapel Hill. Sophomore Yixuan Chang topped the rostrum twice, first within the 1,000-yard freestyle (9:54.96) after which within the 500-yard freestyle (4:48.34). Though Peroni was among the many cost, the 200-yard IM was spearheaded by juniors Sarah Foley (1:56.19) and Catherine Belyakov (1:56.90).