Utah Swim & Dive Opens Season Against Stanford
SALT LAKE CITY – Utah swimming and diving kicks off its season with a home meet against Pac-12 powerhouse Stanford this Friday, Oct. 12 at the Ute Natatorium. The meet will be the first time since 2017-18 that the Cardinal have visited Salt Lake City.
"We are excited to open the regular season against the best of the best," said head coach Joe Dykstra. "Stanford's roster is full of Olympians and world champions, and the meet presents an amazing opportunity for us to measure ourselves against the best out there. We will relish the opportunity to step up to the challenge and defend our home water."
The first regular season meet for Utah will begin at 12 p.m. MT. Admission is free for all fans. Masks are encouraged for those in attendance. Parking for the meet will be in the lot north of the natatorium accessed via Student Life Way.
IN THE POOL
Utah returns its top swimmers from last season, which includes NCAA All-Americans in Cooper deRyk, Andrew Britton, Andrei Ungur and Finn O'hAimhirgin. The four Utes earned the national honors following a 15th-place finish in the 200 medley relay. Also earning individual All-American honors was deRyk, who earned honors in the 50 free. Other notable returners include Ben Waterman, Marko Kovacic and Jaek Horner.
On the women's side, school record holder in the 100 and 200 back Audrey Reimer headlines the returners, along with captains Emma Lawless and Mandy Gebhart, who also find themselves in the record books. Adding to the depth of the team is sprinter Maddie Woznick. The women's team is particularly young this season, with thirteen incoming freshmen looking to add to the mix. Katie Hale also joins the team as a graduate transfer from Idaho and will make an immediate impact.
ON THE BOARDS
Utah diving will feature Pac-12 platform champion and NCAA All-American Luke McDivitt this year, as well as Tony Chen, who performed strongly on both springboards at last year's Pac-12 championships to earn runner-up finishes on both and eventually make his way to NCAAs. International standout Ben Smyth joins the team from Victoria, Canada and will compete at the Junior Pan Americans in October.
Lizzy DeCecco and Lexi Mills lead the way for the women divers, coming off strong performances throughout the shortened season last year. DeCecco earned Utah's first-ever 3m podium finish at the Pac-12 Championships and competed on the 1m at NCAAs. Hannah Traux returns for her second season, while Holly Waxman joins the diving squad in her first year as a Ute.
LAST TIME OUT
Utah began its 2021-2022 season with an exhibition relay against BYU in which freshman Madison Story unofficially broke a pool record in the 50 breast. Utah won 10 of 15 events in the tune-up meet before the season officially begins, which included Utah winning the opening five races in the men's and women's 3x50 fly and 3x50 back, and the women's 3x50 breast. The women's 400 free relay went 1-2-3 in the standings, along with a 1-2-3 finish in the 500 crescendo relay. Full results can be found here.
LOOKING AHEAD
Following the dual meet with Stanford, Utah will play host to California, the reigning Pac-12 champions, on Friday, Oct. 22 at 12:30 p.m. MT at the Ute Natatorium. Utah will then hit the road for the first time of the season to take on UNLV the following week on Saturday, Oct. 6. The meet in Las Vegas will begin at 10 a.m. MT.