Upcoming Event: Swimming & Diving versus Boston College on September 26, 2025 at 4 p.m. Diving / 5 p.m. Swimming
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4 p.m. Diving / 5 p.m. Swimming
Swimming & Diving
vs Boston College
Saturday, November 21
Columbia, S.C.
All Day
Duke University
vs
Day Three (Swimming Only)
Women Finish Second, Men Third at Gamecock Invitational
11/22/2009 10:00:00 AM | Swimming & Diving
DURHAM, N.C. – The Duke swimming programs finished up the weekend long Gamecock Invitational on Saturday evening. The women took second place in a nine-team field, beating the likes of South Carolina and historic swimming powerhouse, Florida. Their male counterparts held on to third place , swimming past Florida but failing to defeat North Carolina and South Carolina.
The Day 3 finals session began with the 1650 freestyle and that meant another title-defending effort from the junior Ashley Twichell. Last year she swam a 16:06.76 in the event to set the meet record. This year she finished just five seconds long of that mark but it was still a strong enough performance to win the event by 32 seconds. Senior Jackie Fasano supported Twichell's winning effort with a sixth-place finish in a time of 17:00.29. Rose O'Connor also competed in the mile swim, scoring five points for the women with a 12th-place finish.
In the men's 1650 freestyle, Duke was only able to offer one scoring swimmer; Nathan French took 11th place in 16:02.52 which earned the team six points. However, four other Blue Devils gained invaluable experience by swimming the grueling event against some of the nation's top competitors. Alex Harmon, Hunter Roux, Matt Carder, and Andrew Clark each got a swim of the 1650 under their belts which will bode well come the ACC Championships.
The freshman class turned out to be another high point for the Blue Devils this weekend. Cara Vogel turned in a casual 2:03.13 in the preliminary rounds of the 200 backstroke, making her the fourth-fastest qualifier in the event. But a blazing time of 2:01.84 at finals grabbed the attention of her competition as did the accompanying first-place honors. Fellow freshman, Emily Kintz secured her spot among the top eight with a fantastic prelims performance. Ultimately, she claimed eighth place and 11 points for the Blue Devils. Emily Barber continued her strong freshman season with a fourth-place finish in the 200 breaststroke.
Other notable performers for Duke included some familiar names. Spencer Booth claimed second place in the 200 backstroke with a time of 1:49.94. Elizabeth Bellew, Shannon Beall, and Steffi Niessl dominated the 200 butterfly finals, taking second, fifth, and sixth place, respectively.
All things considered, the Gamecock Invitational was a positive experience for Colella-led squads. The distance swimmers got a shot at the 1650 freestyle which is not swum in typical dual meets, but is swum at the ACC Championships. All of the swimmers gained collegiate experience with a multi-session and multi-day meet, learning the tolls such competitions have on the body. A large percentage of individuals qualified for finals and the men improved on their team finish from last year.
Duke will enjoy more than a month long hiatus from competition. The Blue Devils will return to the pool on January 2 at the Key Largo Classic as part of their annual winter training program.
Players Mentioned
Breaststroke
/ Swimming & Diving
Free/Fly/IM
/ Swimming & DivingFly/IM
/ Swimming & DivingFree/Back/Fly
/ Swimming & Diving
Freestyle
/ Swimming & DivingDistance Free
/ Swimming & DivingDistance/Free
/ Swimming & DivingDistance Free
/ Swimming & Diving
Distance Free/IM
/ Swimming & Diving
Back/IM
/ Swimming & Diving
Back/Fly
/ Swimming & Diving
Distance/Free
/ Swimming & Diving
Mid-Free
/ Swimming & DivingFreestyle
/ Swimming & Diving
Backstroke
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