Upcoming Event: Swimming & Diving versus Boston College on September 26, 2025 at 4 p.m. Diving / 5 p.m. Swimming
/
4 p.m. Diving / 5 p.m. Swimming
Swimming & Diving
vs Boston College
Friday, October 23
Durham, N.C.
4:15 PM
Duke University
vs
Queens University of Charlotte
Duke Downs Seminoles, Royals on Record-Setting Night
10/23/2015 10:13:00 PM | Swimming & Diving
DURHAM, N.C. – The Blue Devils picked up right where they left off in season-opening wins earlier this month, defeating the Florida State and Queens University men and women in a tri-meet Friday evening at Taishoff Aquatics Pavilion. With the wins, the Duke squads both improved to 3-0 overall and 2-0 in ACC competition.
In addition, the Blue Devil programs recorded their first dual meet victories over the Seminoles, with the women winning by a 184-110 margin and the men by a 164-129 score.
“I expected that we would definitely be in a position to win tonight,” said head coach Dan Colella. “I didn't know that it would turn out the way that it did. We're always excited when it does. Everyone came in tonight ready to race. For them to stand up and perform the way that they did was a real testament to how much they wanted it this evening. And that's what we need as a program. If we're going to begin to be really competitive at a high end, both ACC and nationally, that's the kind of athletes we need. They're impressing me every time we compete.”
Juniors Ashleigh Shanley and Peter Kropp headlined a Duke sweep of the women's and men's breaststroke events. Shanley clocked the fifth-fastest mark in program history in the 100, finding the wall at 1:03.12, before holding off Natalie Pierce of Florida State in the 200-yard race (2:19.17). Kropp entered the meet with the nation's top time in the 100 breaststroke and took both events for the second consecutive meet, while classmate Dylan Payne was second and senior Victor Chen third in the 100.
“It felt really good to be able to contribute to our team and the team goal of winning this meet,” Shanley said. “We talked about before the meet that it wasn't so much about the times this meet – just getting your hand on the wall first and beating the girls next to you. It felt really good to be able to do that.”
Sophomore Verity Abel led the charge in the distance races with a pair of first-place performances in the 500 (4:54.81) and the 1,650 freestyle (16:44.99). Freshman diver Mackenzie Willborn was also a double winner, claiming the 1-meter (269.10) and 3-meter (334.88) competitions in just her second collegiate meet.
Also in diving, rookie Evan Moretti continued to impress, earning a first-place finish in the men's 1-meter event (326.10) and taking second on the 3-meter board.
“I really enjoyed today's competition,” Moretti said. “I started great. I just wanted to keep consistency – it's generally a really hard part of diving, especially for me. I've improved so much with the Duke program so far.”
Three Blue Devil swimmers reset facility records in individual events, as junior Kaz Takabayashi bested the field in the 100 backstroke (48.54), freshman Maddie Hess broke the two-minute threshold in the 200 backstroke (1:59.08) and sophomore Leah Goldman took down a 37-year old benchmark in the 100 butterfly (53.77). Fellow sophomore Isabella Paez was also under the previous Taishoff 100 butterfly record in second place (54.31), while Goldman returned to the water a short time later to claim the 200 IM (2:02.91).
Goldman and 200 medley relay teammates Mickayla Hinkle, Shanley and Maddie Rusch surpassed their own facility record set in a season-opening win over Pittsburgh. The group combined for a 1:40.62 clocking to rank fifth all-time at Duke. The men's 200 medley relay of Takabayashi, Kropp, senior David Armstrong and junior James Peek was first to the wall as well, with their time of 1:27.47 ranking them second in the country to date. Armstrong, Takabayashi and Peek were joined by freshman Yusuke Legard on the winning 400 freestyle relay that added a final pool record at the end of the meet with a 3:00.70 showing.
“The athletes are seeing the fruits of their labor,” Colella said. “To stand up at this time of year and race as hard as they are is desire – it's between the ears. They're hungry. And I think they're believing that they can be a real factor this year at both the conference and national level.”
Team Scores:
Duke Women 184, Florida State Women 110
Duke Women 206, Queens Women 81
Florida State Women 202, Queens Women 94
Duke Men 164, Florida State Men 129
Duke Men 175, Queens Men 114
Florida State Men 189, Queens Men 103
Top Duke Finishers by Event:
Women's 1-Meter Diving: Mackenzie Willborn (1st), 269.10
Men's 1-Meter Diving: Evan Moretti (1st), 326.10
Women's 3-Meter Diving: Mackenzie Willborn (1st), 334.88
Men's 3-Meter Diving: Evan Moretti (2nd), 371.40
Women's 200-Yard Medley Relay: Mickayla Hinkle, Ashleigh Shanley, Leah Goldman, Maddie Rusch (1st), 1:40.62
Men's 200-Yard Medley Relay: Kaz Takabayashi, Peter Kropp, David Armstrong, James Peek (1st), 1:27.47
Women's 1,650-Yard Freestyle: Verity Abel (1st), 16:44.99
Men's 1,650-Yard Freestyle: Riley Hickman (2nd), 15:51.52
Women's 200-Yard Freestyle: Leah Goldman (2nd), 1:49.91
Men's 200-Yard Freestyle: Yusuke Legard (3rd), 1:41.97
Women's 100-Yard Backstroke: Mickayla Hinkle (1st), 54.71
Men's 100-Yard Backstroke: Kaz Takabayashi (1st), 48.54
Women's 100-Yard Breaststroke: Ashleigh Shanley (1st), 1:03.12
Men's 100-Yard Breaststroke: Peter Kropp (1st), 53.64
Women's 200-Yard Butterfly: Isa Paez (1st), 1:58.90
Men's 200-Yard Butterfly: Kenny Ng (2nd), 1:51.39
Women's 50-Yard Freestyle: Maddie Rusch (2nd), 23.17
Men's 50-Yard Freestyle: James Peek (1st), 20.19
Women's 100-Yard Freestyle: Maddie Rusch (1st), 50.57
Men's 100-Yard Freestyle: James Peek (2nd), 45.69
Women's 200-Yard Backstroke: Maddie Hess (1st), 1:59.08
Men's 200-Yard Backstroke: Brad Cline (2nd), 1:51.66
Women's 200-Yard Breaststroke: Ashleigh Shanley (1st), 2:19.17
Men's 200-Yard Breaststroke: Peter Kropp (1st), 1:59.85
Women's 500-Yard Freestyle: Verity Abel (1st), 4:54.81
Men's 500-Yard Freestyle: Matt Johnson (3rd), 4:40.24
Women's 100-Yard Butterfly: Leah Goldman (1st), 53.77
Men's 100-Yard Butterfly: David Armstrong (1st), 48.89
Women's 200-Yard Individual Medley: Leah Goldman (1st), 2:02.91
Men's 200-Yard Individual Medley: Brad Cline (4th), 1:52.55
Women's 400-Yard Freestyle Relay: Maddie Rusch, Hunter Aitchison, Chelsea Ye, Maddie Hess (1st), 3:25.48
Men's 400-Yard Freestyle Relay: David Armstrong, Yusuke Legard, Kaz Takabayashi, James Peek (1st), 3:00.70
#GoDuke
Players Mentioned
Mid/Dist/IM
/ Swimming & Diving
Mid-Free/Dist.
/ Swimming & Diving
Fly/Free
/ Swimming & Diving
Breaststroke
/ Swimming & Diving
Fly/IM/Back
/ Swimming & Diving
Back/Free
/ Swimming & Diving
Mid-Free
/ Swimming & Diving
Backstroke
/ Swimming & Diving
Mid-Free/Dist.
/ Swimming & Diving
Breast/IM
/ Swimming & Diving
Sprints/Fly/Back
/ Swimming & Diving
Diving
/ Swimming & Diving
Butterfly
/ Swimming & Diving
Fly/IM
/ Swimming & Diving
Breast/Fly/Sprnt
/ Swimming & Diving
Sprint Free
/ Swimming & Diving
Sprint Free/Fly
/ Swimming & Diving
Breast/IM
/ Swimming & Diving
Fly/Back
/ Swimming & Diving
Diving
/ Swimming & Diving
Sprint Free/Fly
/ Swimming & DivingDuke Athletics: A Tour of Campus
Saturday, October 19
A Century of Blue Devil Brilliance
Saturday, October 19
Senior Social Kick: Kevin Explains Cubed Food Theory
Friday, March 10
Senior Social Kick: Brad Solves a Rubik's Cube
Friday, March 10
