The UConn women’s swim and dive team (3-2) take on their first invitational of the season as they head to Bucknell (4-2) to participate in the Bucknell Invitational. They look to improve on their fourth place finish from last season’s meet.
The Huskies have completed their first stretch of dual meets with a winning record of 3-2, coming off a convincing 162-133 win against Rhode Island. At Bucknell, they will compete against high quality opponents that will test their skills a handful of weeks out from the Big East Championships.
Last year at the Bucknell Invitational, the UConn women tallied 1055.5 points to just miss out on a podium finish. They faced a field of seven other strong programs with the home-team Bison taking a wire-to-wire victory. Despite the loss, UConn gave incredibly strong efforts.
In last year’s invitational, now senior Niamh Hofland scored 32 important points in the 1650-yard freestyle with a time of 16:43.98. Her time was more than 16 seconds faster than the second-place finisher. Hofland also added 32 more points with a first place finish in the 500-yard freestyle, edging out Bucknell’s Sabrina Vumbacco by 0.01 seconds. The Huskies will need her to replicate these performances if they want a chance at the team title.
In the women’s one-meter dive last year, UConn had solid contributions from the duo of now junior Julia Pioso and senior Elisabeth Katz. The two Huskies combined for 47 points, but will be looked upon to place higher on the results in this year’s event.
For Bucknell, last year was a dominating showcase of the talent they possessed. Despite not having a first-place finish in any event, their depth separated them from the rest of the competition. Among those performances was the second-place 400-yard freestyle relay team that consisted of then freshman Jennifer Bolden, senior Sophia Donati, junior Kayla Lichtner and junior Esme Hunter. Their time of 3:23.70 placed them third all-time in Bison history. If Bucknell can find a replacement for Donati, the foursome could be a threat for big points throughout the meet.
In addition to the relay team, Bolden is instrumental in the Bison’s success. At last year’s invitational she had impressive individual performances, specifically the 100-yard freestyle where Bolden captured third place in a time of 50.90. At the time it catapulted her to the fifth fastest performance in program history. She also placed fourth in the 200-yard freestyle, finishing as the top freshman. Now as a sophomore, she will be expected to perform if the Bison want to defend their home pool.
Facing multiple teams will be a valuable experience for the Huskies in the three-day event. Once wrapped up, the Huskies will head to Vermont to resume their dual meet schedule.