The Eastern Michigan University women’s swimming and diving team’s four-meet winning streak came to an end Saturday with a third-place finish at the FIU Invitational in Miami, with a team score of 595.
The men’s team finished in second with a score of 756 points.
EMU, Florida International University, Texas Christian University, the New Jersey Institute of Technology, the Florida Institute of Technology and McMaster University comprised the six-team field for the women.
On the men’s side, it was EMU, the Marauder Swim Club, Florida Institute of Technology, the New Jersey Institute of Technology, Coe College and Texas Christian University that rounded out the six-team field.
“Our goal was to look at how we were training and what we had to improve on,” EMU men’s and women’s swimming coach Peter Linn said. “We needed to know where we were based on what we have done in the last month, and less to do on if we actually beat anybody.”
On the men’s side, senior Jacob Hanson stole the show with six first-place finishes.
In the individual events, Hanson took first in the 50-yard butterfly (23.15 seconds), 50 backstroke (23.55 seconds), 100-individual medley (52.00 seconds) and 100 backstroke (49.39 seconds).
In the team events, Hanson helped the 200-yard medley and 200-freestyle relay teams capture first place.
EMU swept the top three places in the 200 freestyle. Freshman Krzysztof Gilski took first with a time of 1:42.94, while freshmen Andrew Henry and sophomore Brian Moore finished in second and third places, respectively.
Gilski also took first place in the 500 freestyle and finished second to Hanson in the 50-yard butterfly.
Senior Mike Swain took home first place in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 58.03. Swain also finished second in the 50 butterfly and in the 100-individual medley.
On the women’s side, the Eagles started the invite with a third-place finish in the 200-medley relay with seniors Helena Tolic and Lauren Kalinosky and freshmen Jackie Swartz and Mary Kate MacLean finishing with a time of 1:50.33.
Senior Briana Emig finished first in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:55:12. She also turned in a second-place finish in the 500 freestyle with a time of 5:02.25. Freshman Audra Burtch finished shortly behind her in fourth at 5:07.00.
Sophomore Jessie Godlewski finished second in the 100 backstroke with a time of 1:00:06.
The best finish for the women’s swim team was in the 100 butterfly as junior Meghan Richardson and Godlewski finished one-two with times of 58.51 and 58.58, respectively.
FIU won first place on the women’s side with 717.50 points, while TCU finished second with a score of 636.50 points.
On the men’s side, Texas Christian University won with an overall team score of 946 points, while the Marauder Swim Club finished in distant third with 368.50 points.
“I did not even have anybody think about how fast they were going,” Linn said. “The actual end result did not have any aspirations for that [winning] at all. Any time you get the opportunity to compete with the likes of Texas Christian University and Florida International University, it can only help us down the road.”
The men’s swimming and diving team looks to gain top form as it continues its season Jan. 11 when it goes down the road to Ann Arbor for a dual-meet with the University of Michigan.
Meanwhile, the women’s swimming and diving team return home to Jones Natatorium Jan. 12, when it begins Mid-American Conference play in a dual-meet with Bowling Green State University.
The men’s meet is tentatively scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m., while the women are scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.
