UConn Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving defeat Southern Connecticut State University in the Wolff-Zackin Natatorium on Saturday. Both teams worked hard to ensure a victory at their first meet of the season; the athletes displayed large amounts of enthusiasm by cheering loudly for their teammates. Photo by Kevin Lindstrom. 
UConn Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving defeat Southern Connecticut State University in the Wolff-Zackin Natatorium on Saturday. Both teams worked hard to ensure a victory at their first meet of the season; the athletes displayed large amounts of enthusiasm by cheering loudly for their teammates. Photo by Kevin Lindstrom.
On Friday, the UConn swimming and diving team took on Yale for their fifth matchup of the season. The Huskies were coming off a 166-126 win over Georgetown back in late October, and were hoping to extend their win streak to two games for the first time this season.
It was not meant to be. The Yale Bulldogs dominated the Huskies, placing first and second in the first five events. That set the tone for the rest of the event, despite good performances from some of UConn’s swimmers and divers.
Jim Henry, the Bulldogs’ head coach, was quoted by the Yale athletics website after the game, saying “Twenty months of no competition certainly didn’t yield any rust. We came out of the gates firing, and there was great energy on the bench. I’m definitely excited for the season and can’t wait for the good things still to come.”
Freshman Julia Pioso claimed first place in the three-meter diving and fifth in the one meter, while senior Marina Wilkins took second in the one meter dive. Despite these performances, the Huskies never really seemed able to put up a fight against the overwhelming power of the Bulldogs.
Yale won the vast majority of the events that took place, claiming first, second and third place in seven. This was Yale’s first contest of the year, and it was a great first showing. Yale ended up with a whopping 201 points at the end of the contest, while UConn managed just 91.
UConn recovered later in the day, winning the 16th event and placing well in a few of the later events. Swimmers Maggie Donlevy, Charlotte Proceller, Mia Galat and Melissa Lowry claimed first place in the 400-yard freestyle relay. Lowry and Donlevy also tied for third in the 100-yard freestyle, both finishing at exactly 53.24 seconds.
On the Yale side, swimmers Iszac Henig and Ava Franks both won the 100 and 200 in their events, freestyle for Henig and breaststroke for Franks. Both clinched 18 points for their team, large boons in helping Yale swim to their dominant victory.
Now, the Huskies look ahead toward their next meet. They’ll be at it again later this month, when they attend the Bucknell University Invitational from Nov. 17 to Nov. 19 in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania.
