Swim and Dive: Huskies look to snap two-game skid in Kingston

In their most recent outing, the UConn swim and dive team fell to the Northeastern Huskies on the road, 165.5 to 133.5. Now, Connecticut hits the road once again, this time for a weekend showdown against the University of Rhode Island as they look to snap their two-meet losing streak.  

Both programs need a bounce-back performance after suffering defeats in their recent outings. The Huskies began the season with blowout victories over Southern Connecticut State (163-90) and Georgetown (175-125), but have dropped two straight to Villanova and Northeastern. In its recent losses, UConn has gotten off to slow starts, especially in the 100 yard backstroke and the 50 yard freestyle. On the other side, Rhode Island comes into this meet with a record of three and one but dropped their last meeting to Providence College, 157-124. Prior to the loss, the Rams were victorious over Siena (167.5-132.5), Springfield College (196-99) and Coast Guard (183-108). The match will take place at the Tootell Aquatic Center on Rhode Island’s campus.  

UConn is led by Niamh Hofland and Ana Laura Faoro, who have delivered strong outings early on this season for Connecticut. In their most recent performance, Hofland and Faoro led the way for victories in the 3-meter diving event and 1000 yard freestyle. For Hofland specifically, she would go on to win the 500 yard freestyle and 200 yard medley for the Huskies in their loss to Northeastern. Additionally, freshman Olivia Herbert has turned heads in her first couple of races with strong outings in the 200 yard breaststroke and 200 yard butterfly.  

For Rhode Island, Rylee Kelly and Hannah Benavides come into this one after great performances in the program’s recent loss to Providence. The pair were both two-time winners for the Rams. Kelly won both the 200-meter freestyle and the 100-meter freestyle events. Benavides, who has won all five individual races that she’s competed in this season, took first in both the 50-meter breaststroke and the 100-meter individual medley. Rising sophomore Lily Hsu has also been a key contributor for the Rams, winning the one-meter dive event in three out of four races this season.  

 
These evenly matched northeast programs look to get back into the win column this Saturday with the event beginning at 1 p.m. Results for the matchup can be found at uconnhuskies.com.