Swimming and Diving: Panthers perform well at home in Pitt Invitational

Pitt’s swimming and diving teams protected their home turf this weekend, earning three… Pitt’s swimming and diving teams protected their home turf this weekend, earning three in-conference wins on their way to first and second place finishes in the Pitt Invitational.

Six teams attended this weekend’s Pitt Invitational: West Virginia, Connecticut, Cincinnati, Michigan and Ohio State. By the time Sunday evening ended, the men’s team (6-3, 4-2 Big East) had finished first, collecting four wins for the Panthers’ record. The men finished with a final score of 1148, with their closest competitor, West Virginia, finishing with 1009.

The women (6-4, 4-2 Big East), who finished with 770 points, placed second between an undefeated Ohio State (1,313) and Big East rival West Virginia (714.5). The effort added four wins and one loss to their record.

The one dropped match up was inconsequential in comparison to the victories, as both the men’s and women’s teams gained three in-conference wins. Their single loss came at the hands of Ohio State University’s women’s swim and dive team — a program that ranks thirteenth in the nation.

“Comparatively, we’re not nearly as strong as they are,” head coach Chuck Knoles said before the finals on Sunday. “We had some girls that were able to compete head-to-head with them. They’re a very well-coached team. They have a great history in the last four to five years as being a nationally ranked team. Certainly, having a Big Ten team here has given quite a bit of prestige to the meet, too.”

The Pitt Invitational spanned the weekend, with races on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Each day included a preliminary swim, during which all who entered raced to compete for a seed time later in the evening. Based on their performances, swimmers were placed into one of three possible finals heats — championship finals, consolation finals or bonus finals. Only the participants in the first two heats would record points for their teams.

USA Swimming — the national governing body of competitive swimming in the United States — presided over the meet. Their presence made all times officially recognized on a national level. Preliminary races were swum in long-course meters, races with 50-meter lengths, and the finals were swum in short-course yards, races with 25-yard lengths.

“We were tipping our hats to the fact that this is an Olympic year, and it gives some of these kids a chance to swim — in the morning — long course,” Knoles said. “They can make some Olympic trial cuts, but then come back at night and swim in collegiate yards.”

Freshman Luke Nosbisch recorded the fastest seed time in both the 100-meter and 200-meter breaststroke, but fell to third in the 100-yard breaststroke finals with a time of 56.72. His seed time from the long-course meters was 1:05.39, which was 0.6 seconds longer than a time that would have given him the opportunity to participate in the U.S. Olympic Trials. But the freshman remained humble after the event.

“I think I did okay. Not amazing, but I did all right,” Nosbisch said.

Nosbisch also held down the breaststroke leg of the men’s 200-meter medley relay, recording the fastest split of any of the Pitt breaststrokers in the finals. Even then, he had reservations about his first placement in an “A” relay that went on to win the event in finals.

“I felt like I shouldn’t have been put in there,” Nosbisch said. “Ben Solari, Pierre Meunier and Rob Power, they’re better than me in the 50 by far. My event’s mainly the 200.”

While Nosbisch did not register an Olympic Trial or NCAA “B” cut-time — which would have qualified him for a meet featuring the NCAA’s elite — others in that relay did. Pitt backstroker Adam Maczewski pulled out a B cut with a time of 47.76 in the 100-yard backstroke. His preliminary time, a 57.60 in the 100-meter back, was 0.01 seconds shy of earning what would have been an Olympic Trial cut. Butterflyer Kourosh Ahani came in second in the 100-yard fly finals with a 48.12, which netted him an NCAA B cut in the process. Anchor Jake Van Roekel took the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:40.36.

Maczewski, Ahani and Van Roekel combined with breaststroker Solari to win the men’s 400-yard medley relay with a time of 3:16.87, securing a B cut by nearly a second. The men’s 800-yard freestyle relay — with Van Roekel, Alexander Rodenkirk, Jon Lierley and Morne Boshoff — also attained a “B” cut with a time of 6:39.55. They were just a few seconds away from being the fastest 800-yard relay in the Big East.

But the biggest individual performance in the meet came from freshman Cam Dixon of the women’s team. In every event she swam in, Dixon produced a seed time worthy of a championship-final heat. Her efforts earned the Pitt women’s team 43 points in her individual events. An additional 142 points were earned through her participation in various relays.

Dixon finished fourth in the 200-yard individual medley with 2:02.99, just a second from a B cut. She likewise missed the cutoff in the 100-yard breaststroke by roughly half a second, finishing at 1:03.45. She wrapped up her individual events by placing seventh in the 200-yard breaststroke finals.

“It would’ve been nice to get a B cut, but I was really happy with all my times,” the Winnipeg native said. “I guess next time I’ll shoot for that, but I was really happy with how everything went with this meet.”

She’ll get her chance at the Pitt Christmas Meet, which will be held in the same format as the Pitt Invitational. The meet will be an opportunity for swimmers again to try for Olympic Trials or NCAA B cuts, as well as to assess how they are performing midseason. The action will again span three days, from Dec. 16 to 18, at the pool in Trees Hall.