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 7
Durham, N.C.
1:00 PM
Duke University
vs
William & Mary
Swimming & Diving Sinks Monarchs, Tribe in Tri-Meet
11/7/2015 5:50:00 PM | Swimming & Diving
DURHAM, N.C. – The nationally-ranked Duke men's and women's swimming and diving teams collected first-place finishes in all but three events to dispatch Old Dominion (M-181-106; W-177-100) and William & Mary (M-164-108; W-181-87) Saturday afternoon at Taishoff Aquatics Pavilion. With the dual meet victories, the Blue Devil squads remained unbeaten on the season with matching 5-0 records.
The program concluded the dual meet portion of its fall season undefeated for the first time in school history.
“Because of our depth, I thought we could come away with wins, so the challenge was to really continue to be incredibly competitive from start to finish,” said head coach Dan Colella. “This is something we've been talking about all season long. Today they did a great job of being intense from the start to the finish, a lot of great performances. We mixed up the lineup and had some surprises from people in some events, so we're just really proud of how they stood up and raced today.”
Freshman Maddie Hess continued to etch her name into the Duke record books in only her third collegiate meet, becoming the first Blue Devil female swimmer to break 54 seconds in the 100-yard backstroke. The Brandon, Fla., native earned a program and Taishoff Aquatics Pavilion record with her 53.95 performance, in addition to collecting an NCAA provisional cut in the event.
Hess turned in another record-breaking effort in the 200 backstroke, shattering the previous program benchmark of 1:57.54 with a 1:57.09 swim. She also broke her own pool record of 1:59.08 set two weeks ago against Florida State and Queens University.
“I feel awesome knowing that all of my hard work is paying off, and I definitely couldn't have done it without my teammates,” Hess said. “My mindset is to go out and execute everything that we've been practicing and just going really hard.”
Near the end of the meet, Hess returned to the water to split 50.34 as the leadoff on the Blue Devils' winning 400 freestyle relay. The rookie and relay teammates Maddie Rusch, Chelsea Ye and Leah Goldman broke the facility record in the event at 3:23.33, a mark that ranked them sixth on Duke's all-time performance list.
“Maddie has been working incredibly hard in the weight room – the strength gains she's made have been phenomenal,” Colella said. “We've been waiting for her to pop some big swims. We've seen it coming because of what we've seen on a daily basis in her training, and I still think it's just the tip of the iceberg.”
Another Blue Devil rookie, Hunter Aitchison, broke into the program's all-time top 10 in the 1,000 freestyle. Her time of 10:15.46 ranked eighth overall and was the fastest among the Duke women this season.
Junior Kaz Takabayashi, junior Peter Kropp, senior David Armstrong and junior James Peek reset their own facility record in the 200 medley relay for the third time in as many meets. The group of 2015 NCAA qualifiers combined for a 1:26.73 clocking, marking the nation's third-fastest time to date.
Duke's divers made a clean sweep on the springboards, with freshmen Mackenzie Willborn and Evan Moretti taking first in both disciplines. Willborn garnered a season-best award of 298.73 on the 1-meter board for the fourth-best score in school history. Moretti joined Willborn in surpassing the NCAA Zones qualification standards in both competitions.
“It's different – the dual meets having the swimming and everything going on,” Willborn said. “I'm not really used to it, but I really enjoy it. The energy is really high and it's a lot of fun. I really like competing under pressure so it's good to have that kind of atmosphere.”
Sophomore Isabella Paez won both of her individual races on the afternoon, taking the 200 butterfly in 1:59.70 and coming back to claim the 500 freestyle at 5:01.71. Freshman Riley Hickman lowered his season-best mark in the 500 freestyle at 4:36.61 and added a first-place finish in the 200 freestyle (1:39.97), while Peek also took two events indidividually, sweeping the 50 (20.14) and 100 (45.77) freestyle.
With the momentum gained in the early part of the season, the Duke men and women will look to wrap up the fall on a high note at the Nike Cup Invitational Nov. 19-21 in Chapel Hill, N.C.
Team Scores:
Duke Women 177, Old Dominion Women 100
Duke Women 181, William & Mary Women 87
William & Mary Women 141, Old Dominion Women 130
Duke Men 181, Old Dominion Men 106
Duke Men 164, William & Mary Men 108
William & Mary Men 175, Old Dominion Men 113
Top Duke Finishers by Event:
Women's 1-Meter Diving: Mackenzie Willborn (1st), 298.73
Men's 1-Meter Diving: Evan Moretti (1st), 305.63
Women's 3-Meter Diving: Mackenzie Willborn (1st), 309.53
Men's 3-Meter Diving: Evan Moretti (1st), 351.30
Women's 200-Yard Medley Relay: Mickayla Hinkle, Ashleigh Shanley, Maddie Rusch, Leah Goldman (1st), 1:41.77
Men's 200-Yard Medley Relay: Kaz Takabayashi, Peter Kropp, David Armstrong, James Peek (1st), 1:26.73
Women's 1,000-Yard Freestyle: Hunter Aitchison (1st), 10:15.46
Men's 1,000-Yard Freestyle: Marco Hosfeld (1st), 9:40.78
Women's 200-Yard Freestyle: Verity Abel (1st), 1:52.19
Men's 200-Yard Freestyle: Riley Hickman (1st), 1:39.97
Women's 100-Yard Backstroke: Maddie Hess (1st), 53.95
Men's 100-Yard Backstroke: Brad Cline (2nd), 50.15
Women's 100-Yard Breaststroke: Ashleigh Shanley (1st), 1:04.35
Men's 100-Yard Breaststroke: Peter Kropp (1st), 53.93
Women's 200-Yard Butterfly: Isa Paez (1st), 1:59.70
Men's 200-Yard Butterfly: Kaz Takabayashi (1st), 1:48.16
Women's 50-Yard Freestyle: Maddie Rusch (1st), 23.09
Men's 50-Yard Freestyle: James Peek (1st), 20.14
Women's 100-Yard Freestyle: Chelsea Ye (1st), 51.63
Men's 100-Yard Freestyle: James Peek (1st), 45.77
Women's 200-Yard Backstroke: Maddie Hess (1st), 1:57.09
Men's 200-Yard Backstroke: Brad Cline (2nd), 1:50.07
Women's 200-Yard Breaststroke: Abby Artmann (1st), 2:22.24
Men's 200-Yard Breaststroke: Victor Chen (1st), 2:03.22
Women's 500-Yard Freestyle: Isa Paez (1st), 5:01.71
Men's 500-Yard Freestyle: Riley Hickman (1st), 4:36.61
Women's 100-Yard Butterfly: Leah Goldman (1st), 54.40
Men's 100-Yard Butterfly: David Armstrong (1st), 48.47
Women's 400-Yard Individual Medley: Anna Quinn (1st), 4:28.24
Men's 400-Yard Individual Medley: Judd Howard (2nd), 4:03.62
Women's 400-Yard Freestyle Relay: Maddie Hess, Maddie Rusch, Chelsea Ye, Leah Goldman (1st), 3:23.33
Men's 400-Yard Freestyle Relay: David Armstrong, Victor Chen, Dylan Payne, James Peek (1st), 3:00.77
#GoDuke
Players Mentioned
Mid/Dist/IM
/ Swimming & Diving
Mid-Free/Dist.
/ Swimming & Diving
Fly/Free
/ Swimming & Diving
Breast/IM
/ 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/Free
/ Swimming & Diving
Breast/IM
/ Swimming & Diving
Diving
/ Swimming & Diving
Fly/IM
/ Swimming & Diving
Breast/Fly/Sprnt
/ Swimming & Diving
Sprint Free
/ Swimming & Diving
Fly/Free
/ Swimming & Diving
Sprint Free/Fly
/ Swimming & Diving
Breast/IM
/ Swimming & Diving
Fly/Back
/ Swimming & Diving
Diving
/ Swimming & Diving
Sprint Free/Fly
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