Northwestern University women’s swimming and diving team is geared up for the rest of the season. | Northwestern athletics
Northwestern University women’s swimming and diving team is geared up for the rest of the season. | Northwestern athletics
The Northwestern University women’s swimming and diving team is gearing up for the final part of its season. After seven meets, the Wildcats have had a lot to cheer about and are looking to finish the year strong.
The women’s team has a 4-3 record in dual meets and claimed a dominating victory at the TYR Invitational in mid-November. The ‘Cats dropped their first two dual meets of the season, first falling 167-125 to the University of Georgia and then losing to the Georgia Institute of Technology, 153-147. In the meet against Georgia, the Wildcats claimed five individual wins.
The dual meet against the Bulldogs started off in the 200-meter medley relay, and Northwestern picked up a second-place finish in the race thanks to an all-freshman team. Calypso Sheridan, Sophie Angus, Ilektra Lebl and Mary Warren. Angus then claimed the first win for the ‘Cats in the 100-meter breaststroke with a time of 1:03.81. Warren secured another win for Northwestern, taking home first place in the 50-meter freestyle and Anna Keane won the 100-meter freestyle.
In the ‘Cats second meet of the year, the team won nine individual events in the narrow loss to Georgia Tech. The meet was closely contested, and the Wildcats had the lead going into the final event. The 200-meter medley relay team claimed the first win of the meet with a time of 1:43.40. Then, Sydney Modeas claimed a win in the 1,000-meter freestyle with a time of 10:23.40. Sheridan won the 100-meter backstroke, and Angus claimed a win in the 100-meter breaststroke. Despite the nine individual wins, the Yellow Jackets were too much for the Wildcats and edged out a win.
Following the back-to-back losses, the ‘Cats strung together a four-meet winning streak, knocking off the University of Illinois, Rutgers University, Chicago University and the University of Illinois at Chicago. The team’s strongest win came in the meet against Chicago, where the ‘Cats won 188-100.
In mid-November, the Wildcats participated in the TYR Invitational and earned a commanding win. The ‘Cats finished with a total team point total of 1,190 points, beating the second-place team by 485 points.
Nicole Aarts was one of the stars of the day for Northwestern. In the 200-meter backstroke, she secured the top seed going into the final. In the final, Aarts set another career-best time in the event finals, taking second place with a time of 1:56.29. In the mile swim, NU athletes took the top two spots, with Irune Andres claiming first place and Modeas taking second place.
Sheridan also turned in a strong performance at the TYR Invitational, winning the 200-meter breaststroke and the 100-meter individual medley. In the breaststroke, she broke an 11-year pool record with a time of 2:11.38, which was good enough to earn an NCAA B-cut.
After a holiday break, Northwestern will return to action Jan. 12, when the Wildcats take part in the USA Swimming Pro Series in Austin, Texas. The team’s final home meet will be Jan. 20, and the Big 10 Championships will get underway Feb. 14.
For more information on the Northwestern women’s swimming and diving team, visit www.nusports.com.
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