Utah Men's Swim & Dive Holds Intrasquad Saturday

Utah Men's Swim & Dive Holds Intrasquad Saturday

10/31/2020 3:34 PM | Men's Swimming & Diving

Utes get first taste of competition on Halloween.

SALT LAKE CITY – With strict social distancing of safety protocols, the Utah men's swim and dive team had its first taste of competition on Saturday morning with the program's first intrasquad of the 2020-21 season. The Utah men split up into two teams in a mock meet to close out the week where Team White edged out Team Red 172.50-125.50 in the Ute Natatorium.

"It was a lot of fun for the team to step up and race after we have just been training and training and training," said head coach Joe Dykstra. "Obviously there was no other team and looked a lot different than usual meets with distancing, masks and flighted warm-ups, but the guys really embraced any opportunity to compete even if it is different than what we normally do. We had some really good early-season times all things considered and I am very pleased."

The White team got it going early, claiming the win in the 200 medley relay in the first event of the day from the squad of Andrei Ungur, Cooper DeRyk, Andrew Britton and JP Hynes (1:30.07). Continuing the success, the White team went on to claim the top finisher in the next four events.

Freshman Dylan Becker cruised to the win in the 1000 Free with a time of 9:35.41 and was followed by a win in the 200 free by Team White's Cole Giandinoto (1:41.66). Ungur picked up the team's fourth-straight win after he pulled in a 49.48 in the 100 back. Britton continued his winning ways and topped the 100 breast field with a time of 56.93 to just edge out sophomore Jaek Horner's time of 57.16 on Team Red.

Ben Waterman picked up Team Red's first win of the day in the 200 fly after recording 1:51.06. He later went on to win the 100 fly toward the end of the day with a 48.59.

Cooper DeRyk picked up his second win for Team White to go along with the medley relay, this time winning the 50 free (20.65). Felix Chiun finished behind DeRyk in the 50 free, but turned around to take the 100 free with a time of 45.74 in the next race.

Holden Ellsworth won the 200 back (1:50.11) and 200 IM (1:54.83) for Team White. Jaek Horner posted a win in the 200 breast (2:07.79) for Team Red immediately after. Dylan Becker rolled to other win in his first competition-like day with the Utes, posting a 4:39.81 in the 500 free to round out his day.

To finish the swim events, Unger, Britton, DeRyk and Santiago Contreras narrowly edged out Team Red's 200 free relay with a time of 1:23.34. Red's Chiun, Allen, Elwyn and O'Haimhirgin finished in second with a time of 1:23.74.

On the boards, Tony Chen and Luke McDivitt tied for first on the 1-meter board (367.00), while Chen took home the top score on the 3-meter board with a score of 380.00. Jenner Pennock took second on the 3-meter board.

The Utah women swimming and diving team will be in action next weekend for their first intrasquad of the year.

White Team: Dylan Becker, Nathan Bright, Andrew Britton*, Noah Carlson, Santiago Contreras*, Jackson Cunningham, Cooper DeRyk, Holden Ellsworth, Cole Giandinoto, Micah Ginoza, JP Hynes, Zach Julien, Luke McDivitt*, Jenner Pennock, Tony Puertas, Andrei Ungur, Matt Wilcox, Rhys Winter

Men Red Team: Chris Allen, Nick Becker, Tony Chen, Felix Chiun*, Connor Elwyn, Ryan Garstang, Gavin Giandinoto, Lex Hernandez-Nietling, Max Hernandez-Nietling, Chase Hindmarsh, Jaek Horner, Robert King*, Sam Lucas, Parker McOmber, Grant Nations, Finn O'Haimhirgin, Nathan Ramey, Ben Waterman*

* - Designates team captain