Oct. 24, 2008
ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Four swimming and diving teams that were tabbed to place towards the top of their respective conferences will face each other Saturday in Annapolis as the Navy programs play host to UMBC. The women's meet between the schools is slated to begin at 12 Noon in Lejeune Hall, with the start of the men's meet scheduled for 2 p.m.
The Navy women's team placed second in the Patriot League last year and was selected by the coaches and sports information contacts in the league to finish as the silver medalist at the league meet again this year. Meanwhile, the UMBC women's program won the America East title in 2008 and was tabbed to repeat as the league champion in 2009.
"This will be a big test for us," said Navy women's swimming head coach John Morrison. "UMBC always has a talented team, and this year is no exception. We will need the depth of our entire team to play a big role for us Saturday."
The meet held last year between the two programs went down to the final event before a winner was determined. The Mids would place first and third in the meet-ending 400 freestyle relay event to secure a 123-119 victory over the Retrievers.
Navy athletes won both relay events and seven additional individual events during the meet, with UMBC swimmers winning four events. Returning event winners from last year include Navy's Tara Chapmon (Jr., Virginia Beach, Va.), 200 and 500 freestyle, and Mallory Dietrich (Jr., Pittsburgh, Pa.), 200 fly, while UMBC returns Tina Cantwell, winner of the 200 breast, Rebecca Godwin, the 1000 free winner and Tereza Kaplanova, who won the 200 backstroke.
Navy holds an 11-5 advantage in the all-time series with UMBC and has won eight of the nine meets that have been contested on The Yard.
The Mids enter the meet with a 4-0 record on the season (Boston College, Catholic, Johns Hopkins, Loyola), while the Retrievers are 1-2 (a win over Rider and losses to Miami of Fla., and North Carolina State).
The men's meet features a matchup of teams who not only won their league title last year, but are also picked to win their conference again this year.
"This has always been a competitive meet," said Navy men's swimming head coach Bill Roberts. "We are looking for great efforts from everyone."
As has become commonplace for the series, last year's meet between the teams was a close one. Navy athletes placed 1-2-3 in the 200 individual medley and one-meter diving before finishing first and second in the 100 free to pull away from UMBC and eventually post a 137-101 victory in Baltimore.
The teams split the two relay events, with Navy athletes winning nine of the 11 individual events contested on the day. The big winners for Navy a year ago were Adam Meyer (Jr., Bethesda, Md.), who won the 200 breaststroke, 200 individual medley and 200 fly events, Erik Hunter (So., Placerville, Calif.), who won the 500 and 1000 freestyle events, and Olaf Olson (So., Bainbridge Island, Wash.), who won both diving boards. Additionally for Navy, Aaron Aiken (So., Ocala, Fla.) won the 100 freestyle last year and Alex Oldenkamp (Sr., Coppell, Texas) won the 50 free.
The lone returning UMBC swimmer who won an event during last year's meet is Justin Bronson who won the 200 freestyle.
Navy has won the last three meetings with UMBC and holds a 13-2 advantage in the all-time series. The Mids have won six of the seven meets that have been held in Lejeune Hall
The Mids have posted a 4-0 record this year (Boston College, Catholic, Johns Hopkins, Loyola), while the Retrievers are 1-1 on the young campaign (win over Rider, loss to North Carolina State).
