The UConn swimming and diving team is preparing for a new season against familiar opponents. UConn’s first meet is on Oct. 7 and 8 against New England rivals Northeastern and URI. The Huskies are coming off of a 6-3 record, where they were runners-up for the Big East Championship. They were also selected as a Scholar All-American Team, as the College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America picks this distinct honor. It is noted that the Huskies accumulated a team average of a 3.59 GPA to earn this honor.
The Huskies will hope to repeat history, where they beat both Northeastern and URI last season 156-122 and 190-105, respectively. They will be led this year by captains Caitlin Spencer, Audra McSharry and Kayla Mendonca. Two of them faced these opponents, as Spencer finished sixth overall with a time of 4:45.49 in the 400 yard IM against Northeastern. In the same meet, Mendonca helped her team take the gold in the 400 Yard Medley Relay with a time of 3:50.85, second in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:11.79, and first in the 200 yard medley race with fellow teammates Katelyn Walsh, Linnea Anderson and Melissa Lowry. McSharry did not compete at the meets last year against the Huskies or Rams.
UConn will have some new faces across the pool, most noticeably the new diving coach David McKown. McKown was the head diving coach at the University of Indianapolis, where he led his divers to the men’s 1-meter championship, and even got the Greyhounds to their first national championship in program history. McKown has even said that “I am incredibly excited and grateful to be a part of UConn Nation! I am very much looking forward to taking UConn’s diving program to the next level.” It will be exciting to watch what he does with the diving program in not only this meet, but for the season, where he will be hoping to match the success he had last season at the University of Indianapolis.
Northeastern is hoping to build off of their first meet where they defeated Vermont 165-134. This will be URI’s first meet of the season.
This matchup against both schools once again should be in UConn’s favor, but that doesn’t mean the visiting Huskies and Rams can’t surprise the home team. Both squads were able to showcase their successes last year, as Northeastern and URI finished 5-3 and 5-2 last season, respectively.
This meet is a must-win for the Huskies. This year they are hoping to win the Big East Championship and repeating victory from last year is the first step in doing that.
This meet will start at 5 p.m. on Friday and 10 a.m. on Saturday. Both days, events will occur at the Wolff-Zackin Natatorium in Storrs.
