Swim & Dive Face Off Against Rival BYU on the Road

SALT LAKE CITY– Utah's swimming and diving team is back in action this Friday and Saturday, Jan. 28-29, when it faces off against rival BYU. The dual-meet will take place on the road at the Richards Building Pool, on the campus of BYU. Competition is slated to begin on Friday evening at 5 pm with the diving events and will continue on Saturday at 11 am with the swimming events.
 
"We have a very tall task in front of us this weekend," head coach Joe Dykstra said. "BYU has an incredible roster of talent this year but we are excited to give it our all and compete against a great rival."
 
Meet Info
Under Dykstra's direction, the Utes have been dominant against the Cougars garnering a record of 15-1 between both the men's and women's teams. Dating back to the 2013-14 season, the men have a record of 7-1 and the women own an unblemished record of 8-0.  
 
The men lost their only meet on the road in nail bitter 155-145 back in 2016. In their last meeting with BYU, the men and women walked away with victories (M: 179-121, W: 176-124) as senior Cooper deRyk broke a Don Reddish Pool record in the 100 fly (47.14).
 
"It's always an exciting and intense meet versus BYU and this weekend will be no different. It will be even more difficult since we are competing down south but we have a lot of experience competing there," head diving coach Richard Marschner said. "We're going to need a big day from our divers and I'm expecting that we'll continue our upward trend we've been experiencing this season."
 
How to Follow
Ute fans can follow the action during both meets by following @UTAHswimdive on Twitter. Updates throughout the meet will be provided along with pictures of the action. Live results will be available through the Meet Mobile App and BYU will also provide a live stream which can be found here. 
 
Last Time Out
Utah celebrated senior day last weekend, turning in great performances against both the University of Denver and Colorado Mesa University. In their first action of 2022, the Utes downed fourth-ranked CMU (489.00-110.00), according to the latest CSCAA DII rankings and Denver (437.00-163.00). The Utes took home titles in 26 of 32 total events, with several seniors shining during the outing.
 
The team wasted no time capturing the victory in the first nine events of the meet. Getting it all started was the team of Emma Lawless, Katie Hale, Leyre Casarin, and Madison Story who combined to win the 200-yard medley relay in 1:42.18. The men followed suit, as Matt Wilcox, Andrei Ungur, Cooper deRyk, and Finn O'Haimhirgin combined to win in 1:30.01.
 
A pair of Utah seniors earned two individual wins on the day as senior Ben Waterman earned his first victory in the 200 free finishing in 1:40.84 and took home his second victory in the 100 fly (48.63). Casarin started her day with the win in the aforementioned 200 medley relay and followed that up with wins in the 50 and 100 frees.
 
Sophomore Marko Kovacic recorded a new personal-best in the 100 fly with a time of 49.07.

Capping off the meet, Casarin led off for the first-place 200 free relay (1:33.40), joined by Maddie Woznick, Emma Lawless, and Katie Hale. Senior Cooper deRyk led off for the men in the 200 free relay, joined by O'Haimhirgin, Hynes and anchored by Ungur for the victory (1:21.88).
 
Diving was also exceptional, with both the men and women sweeping the 1M and 3M events. Luke McDivitt and Tony Chen combined for excellence yet again, with McDivitt finishing first in the 3m (358.65) and Chen placing second (343.50). The two would trade places in the 1M with Chen scoring 321.15 and McDivitt finishing with a score of 319.95.
 
The standout performance of the afternoon was from freshman Holly Waxman, who put together an all-time top-10 performance in the 1M with a score of 298.85. This moved Waxman into seventh all-time in the event. Waxman would later finish second in the 3m (276.70), trailing the first-place performance of teammate Mills (311.85).
 
Looking Forward
The Utah dive team will travel to Colorado Springs, Colo., to compete at the Air Force Diving Invitational next weekend, Feb. 3-5. The three-day invite will start on Thursday morning at 9:00 a.m. and will conclude on Saturday with the men's platform finals at 2:30 p.m.
 
The women's swim team won't see any more competition until the Pac-12 Championships, Feb. 23-26, while the men's team will have one more dual-meet on Saturday, Feb. 12, against USC. That meet is set to start at 12:00 pm on Saturday. 
 
NCAA B Times
Utah has a total of 12 swimmers that have recorded NCAA B cut times. 
50 Free: Leyre Casarin (22.72), Cooper deRyk (19.51)
100 Free: Leyre Casarin (49.30), Finn O'Haimhirgin (43.48)
200 Free: Marko Kovacic (1:35.61)
1650 Free: Jackson Cunningham (15:24.62)
100 Back: Emma Lawless (53.88), Andrei Ungur (46.06), JP Hynes (47.17)
200 Back: Emma Lawless (1:56.25)
100 Breast: Jaek Horner (53.04)
200 Breast: Charity Pittard (2:12.53), Jaek Horner (1:57.02)
100 Fly: Emma Lawless (53.74), Ben Waterman (46.48), Cooper deRyk (47.43)
200 Fly: Ben Waterman (1:44.44)
200 IM: Ben Waterman (1:46.60)
200 Medley Relay Men: A squad: Andrei Ungur, Andrew Britton, Cooper deRyk, and Finn O'Haimhirgin (1:24.47)
 
Pac-12 Women's Diver of the Month 
Junior diver Lexi Mills was named Pac-12 Diver of the Month for December after a stellar performance at the Big Al Invitational. Hosted by Princeton, Mills never placed outside the top-seven in the events she competed in. Starting with the 3M dive on the opening day, Mills posted a score of 293.20 in the preliminary round to advance to the finals and followed that up with a 303.25 (NCAA Zones qualifying score) to lead the Utes placing second. 

On day two, Mills posted a score of 271.50 in the 1M dive prelims and scored a 250.85 in the finals to finish seventh. The 271.50 she showcased in the prelims was also an NCAA Zones qualifying mark. The platform was the final event on the third day at the invitational and Mills posted a personal-best of 216.30, which was good for seventh.
 
Waxman's All-Time Performances
In her first year at Utah, freshman Holly Waxman has already added her name in the all-time record book. Hailing from Leeds, England, Waxman currently sits in ninth all-time in the Platform scoring a 227.30 at the Texas Diving Invite last fall and is seventh in the 1M after her performance on senior day posting a score of 298.85.  
 
Follow the Utes!
For fans of the Utah men's/women's swimming and diving programs, follow the Utes on Twitter (@UTAHswimdive), Instagram (@utahswimdive) and Facebook (@UtahUtesSwimDive).