USC Swim Opens Dual Meet Action With Washington State, UC Santa Barbara
The USC men's and women's swimming teams are set for their first dual meets of the season as they host Pac-12 rival Washington State (women) and UC Santa Barbara (men) on Friday (Oct. 29), at 2 p.m. at the Uytengsu Aquatics Center.
The Trojans kicked off the season Oct. 15-16 at the two-day, three-session USC Swim Invitational that saw the Women of Troy sweep all 17 events. The men won 12 events.
EVENT DETAILS:
The meet will be streamed online at https://pac-12.com/live/usc.
Live results will be available on Meet Mobile.
TOP TIMES – WOMEN OF TROY
The No. 17 Women of Troy secured their first batch of A and B cut times during the season-opening invitational. Sophomore Kaitlyn Dobler led the way for the Trojans with the first individual A cut of the 2021-22 season, posting a 57.95 in the 100y breast for an A cut. She also picked up B cuts in the 50y free (22.45) and 200y breast (2:11.63). The Trojan quartet of Calypso Sheridan, Dobler, Anicka Delgado and Laticia Transom combined for three NCAA A cuts, as they took the 200y free (1:28.00), 200y medley (1:35.18) and 400y medley relays (3:29.74). Sheridan secured four individual NCAA B cuts (200y IM 1:55.76, 400y IM 4:07.52, 200y fly 1:56.65, 100y back 51.79), Transom secured three (50y free 22.43, 100y free 48.41, 1:43.98) and Delgado secured two (100y fly 53.09, 50y free 22.48) during the home opener.
Additional B cut times included those from seniors Isabelle Odgers (100y breast 1:01.39, 200y breast 2:09.27, 400y IM 4:13.78) and Makenna Turner (100y fly 53.75), junior Nicole Pavlopoulou (200y IM 1:59.88, 200y breast 2:13.24) and freshmen Marlene Kahler (500 free 4:43.94, 1650y free 16:22.30) and Jade Hannah (100y back 52.66, 200y back 1:56.29).
OVERVIEW – WOMEN OF TROY
Captains for this year's Trojans are seniors Makenna Turner and Isabelle Odgers.
The No. 17 Women of Troy return all but three Trojans from their 2020-21 roster this season, including the defending two-time Pac-12 breaststroke champion Dobler.
After missing last season due to injury, Laticia Transom is primed for a stellar senior year comeback campaign. The 2020 Pac-12 100y and 200y free champion looks to take back her crowns this season and will likely be a force at the NCAA Championships.
Other noteworthy returners for the Trojans include Pac-12 finalists and NCAA qualifiers Hallie Kinsey, Isabelle Odgers, Marta Ciesla and Aela Janvier.
A pair of 2020 Tokyo Olympians will compete for USC this season, as sophomore Anicka Delgado (Ecuador) and Marlene Kahler (Austria) will contribute their talents.
In addition to Austrian Olympian Kahler, freshmen Jade Hannah (Saanichton, BC, Canada) and Alice Waldow (Auckland, New Zealand) are among the women's swim team's top newcomers.
Also joining the squad this season is All-American and Big Ten Champion (200 breast, 400 IM), Calypso Sheridan, who transferred to USC after three seasons spent at Northwestern where she trained under then head coach, Jeremy Kipp.
TOP TIMES – TROY
The No. 23 USC men's swim team also secured their first batch of B cut times during the home opener. B cuts came from redshirt senior Nikola Miljenic (50y free 19.74, 100y fly 46.75), seniors Alexei Sancov (200y free 1:34.97, 200y fly 1:44.13), Victor Johansson (500y free 4:19.38, 1650y free 15:06.90) and Jackson Odgers (200y fly 1:47.19), junior Harry Homans (400y IM, 3:50.79, 200y fly 1:44.27), sophomore Vaggelis Makrygiannis (100y back 46.87) and freshmen Artem Selin (50y free 19.89) and Daniel Matheson (500y free 4:22.06, 1650y free 15:18.99).
OVERVIEW – TROY
No. 23 USC returns multiple All-American swimmers this season, having retained every Trojan from last year's roster, while also welcoming nine newcomers.
Troy's 2021-22 squad features four Tokyo 2020 Olympians as Alexei Sancov (Moldova), Nikola Miljenic (Croatia), Victor Johansson (Sweden) and Vaggelis Makrygiannis (Greece) will race this season for USC.
Sancov looks to defend his 2021 Pac-12 individual title (200y free), while Johansson looks to reclaim his 500y free conference crown from 2019.
In addition to the four Olympians, freshmen Artem Selin (Krasnoyarsk, Germany), Mason Morris (Del Mar, Calif.) and Chris O'Grady (La Canada, Calif.) are among the men's swim team's top newcomers. Selin is a German national age record holder (50 SCM free), with vast experience competing at some of the top international events. Both Morris and O'Grady were Junior National qualifiers.
Other noteworthy returners for the Trojans include redshirt senior Mario Koenigsperger, senior Billy Cruz Zuniga, and juniors Max Saunders and Harry Homans. Both Cruz Zuniga and Saunders scored three times at last year's Pac-12's.
Captains for this year's squad are senior Victor Johansson and junior David Mertz.