Utah Swimming and Diving Honors Seniors This Weekend

Wednesday, January 15

Los Angeles, CA

All Day

University of Utah

UCLA Diving Invitational

Utah Swimming and Diving Honors Seniors This Weekend

1/15/2020 1:26 PM | Men's Swimming & Diving, Women's Swimming & Diving

Eleven student-athletes to be recognized on Saturday

SALT LAKE CITY - It will be an extremely busy weekend for the Utah Swim and Dive teams with three events scheduled.

The women's swim team will compete against Washington State and Nevada on Friday evening at 5 p.m. in Reddish Natatorium and then return to the pool at 11 a.m. on Saturday along with the men's team to face Denver. The Utah diving teams will be in Los Angeles for the UCLA Invitational, Fri. - Sun. at the Spieker Aquatics Center

During Saturday's meet with the Pioneers, Utah will honor 11 senior student-athletes for their contributions to the program; Mallori Allen, Rahiti De Vos, Kenzie Ford, Mariah Gassaway, Madison Lash, Brody Lewis, Sarah Lott, Colten Montgomery, Liam O'Haimhirgin, Christina Pick and Matteo Sogne

Utah Swim Preview
Utah is returning from a competitive break that began in early December after a handful of swimmers traveled to the Minnesota Invitational. The men are currently ranked No. 21 in the nation by the Collegiate Swim Coaches Association of America.

Robert King was less than a second off an Olympic qualifying time in the 200 free, clocking in at 1:51.71. He also swam a 51.79 in the 100 free. Felix Chiun was involved in the same event and finished sixty-seven hundredth's of a second off the Olympic qualifying mark.

Chiun also had Utah's top time in the 100 fly (54.57) with Ben Waterman clocking in at 54.86. In the 400 IM, Jackson Cunningham finished in 4:27.71 and Charity Pittard hit the wall in 5:03.17. Pittard also had the top time of anyone in the 200 breast (2:35.27).

Cole Giandinoto had the best time of any swimmer in the 200 fly (2:02.39) and freshman Abbie Hurst swam a 1:13.63 in the 100 breast.

Only seven swimmers attended the meet before returning home, so for the majority of the team this will be their first competition since late November, when they attended the Georgia Tech Invitational in Atlanta and the men placed second.

Utah Dive Preview
Utah's divers are in action for the first time since their home invitational the first week of December. Luke McDivitt had a strong outing, taking second in the 3m (393.20) and third in the 1m (310.10). For his efforts, he was named Pac-12 Diver of the Month.

Teammate and fellow sophomore Tony Chen was right behind him in the 3m, finishing third (362.85), and also went top ten in the 1m. Freshman Chase Hindmarsh went sixth in both events to round out a solid performance from the men.

On the women's side, junior captain Emma Ruchala was the top performer, placing fourth in the 1m (267.95.) and seventh in the 1m (271.30). Lizzie DeCecco took fifth in both events, and Reagan Caufield added a top 10 finish in the 1m.

"This is the first of two diving invites we have in the next few weeks and the UCLA Invite is probably the most competitive of the collegiate regular season," diving coach Richard Marschner said. "We will see all of the major players in our zone at this meet so any finish in the top 18 would be a big accomplishment."