The Arizona men and women’s swim and diving teams lifted themselves to victory this weekend, compiling 32 first place finishes to defeat Hawaii in their season opener at Hillenbrand Aquatics Center. Nimrod Shapira Bar-Or, Margo Geer, Mitchell Friedemann, Matt Barber and Kevin Cordes led the Wildcats with solid performances.
“I was content with our accomplishments this weekend although we still have some work to do,” head coach Eric Hansen said. “I felt that we competed hard and there were some people who were really sharp, but we need to pay attention to small details. Although it’s still early in the season, we now know see where we stand.”
Despite placing first in nearly 85 percent of the heats and winning all of its relays, the team still believes that it can do better.
“I think we still need to improve as a team on our details, starts, and turns,” junior Giles Smith said.
“It was the first meet though, and there will always be something to work on. Personally, I had a rough meet, but we should be much better next weekend against UNLV.”
Senior Bar-Or, a native of Jerusalem, Israel, came out strong during the first day of competition, edging teammate Woody Joye to earn first place in the 200 IM, compiling a 1:52.26. He also anchored the 400-medley, along with teammates Mitchell Friedemann, Kevin Cordes and Woody Joye, to earn another victory with time of 3:19.45.
During his second day of the tournament, Bar-Or won the 50y-freestyle in 20.99. He gained him another first place finish with a time of 3:03.40 in the 400y-freestyle relay with Smith, Tommy Gutnam and Nick Popov.
Juniors Geer, Friedemann and Barber were also sharp this weekend. Geer placed first in the women’s 100y-freestyle, compiling a time of 48.88 and continued to dominate on Saturday, swimming the 50y-freestyle in 22.75.
Friedemann participated in the men’s 200y-freestyle and 400y-medley races on Friday, earning first place finishes in both with times of 1:22.55 and 3:19.45 respectively. During competition on Saturday, Friedemann won the 100y-backstroke with a time of 48.92 and was part of the team who won the 200y-medely race with a 1:29.93.
“I think the team swam pretty well for where we are in our training,” Friedemann said. “There are some things that we all need to improve on. I would like to improve my turns and breakouts. Overall, we had a decent performance this weekend.”
Barber won the 500y-freestyle, compiling a time of 4:35.33 and placed first in the 200y-freestyle with a 1:40.13.
On Friday, sophomore swimmer Cordes edged freshman teammate Andrew Sovero in the 100y-breaststroke, compiling a 55.37, and was part of the 400y-medely team who earned a time of 3:19.45. On Saturday, Cordes compiled a 2:02.63 in the 200y-breaststroke and anchored the 200y-medely, adding another first place finish with a time of 1:29.93.
“The team was happy with their performance,” Hansen said. “But they definitely weren’t satisfied. They know that they have a lot of work to do. They swam well, but weren’t really pushing it. It was the first meet though, and it was understandable.”
