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
Thursday, November 17
Chapel Hill, N.C.
All Day
Duke University
vs
Day One at Nike Cup
Women in Second, Men Third After Day One at Nike Cup
11/18/2011 10:13:00 AM | Swimming & Diving
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - The Duke swimming & diving teams opened competition Thursday at the 2011 Janis Hape Dowd Nike Cup Invitational in Chapel Hill, N.C. After the first day of events, the Blue Devil women stand in second place with 172 points behind host North Carolina, while the men are in third with 173 points.
Leading Duke in the opening finals event on Thursday evening was the 200 free relay team of sophomore Lauren Weaver, junior Francesca Tocci, senior Steffi Niessl and sophomore Christine Wixted, which took second with a season-best 1:33.28 clocking. The men's 200 free relay of freshman Stefan Knight, senior Ben Tuben, graduate student Piotr Safronczyk and junior Ben Hwang posted an NCAA 'B' cut time of 1:21.43 to finish third.
Senior Meghan Dwyer swam a personal-best 4:53.32 in the finals of the women's 500 free to earn a seventh-place finish, while fellow senior Rose O'Connor took 11th at 4:57.86.
Wixted continued what has already been a standout season with a first-place performance in the women's 200 IM final. After placing fourth in the morning prelims, the Greenwood Village, Colo., native notched a season-best and NCAA 'B' qualifying mark of 1:59.87 in the evening final to edge out the competitive field of 24 swimmers.
In the men's 200 IM final, sophomore Steven Gasparini grabbed a fifth-place finish at 1:50.89 for a new personal-best and Duke's top time of the season in the event.
Duke swimmers also turned in strong performances in the 50 free events, with Weaver placing second on the women's side in a season-best 23.42. Meanwhile, Hwang won the men's competition with an NCAA 'B' cut time of 20.03.
Dwyer, freshman Katherine Plevka, freshman Ali Horn and Weaver teamed up for an eighth-place showing in the women's 400 medley relay, touching in 3:52.39. On the men's side, the Blue Devils earned a second-place finish behind the efforts of Gasparini, Safronczyk, Tuben and Hwang, who posted an NCAA 'B' qualifying time of 3:17.35.
The Nike Cup continues on Friday, with preliminary events beginning at 10 a.m. in North Carolina's Koury Natatorium.
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Players Mentioned
Back/Free
/ Swimming & Diving
Back/Fly/IM
/ Swimming & Diving
IM/Fly/Free
/ Swimming & Diving
Sprints
/ Swimming & Diving
Free/Fly
/ Swimming & Diving
Back/Fly
/ Swimming & Diving
Distance/Free
/ Swimming & Diving
Breast/IM
/ Swimming & Diving
Breast/Free
/ Swimming & Diving
Freestyle
/ Swimming & Diving
Butterfly
/ Swimming & Diving
Free/Fly
/ Swimming & Diving
Breast/IM
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