The men’s and women’s Pitt swimming and diving teams kicked off their first tri-meet of the season in a two-day showdown against George Washington and West Virginia. The competition began on Friday with the platform diving finals and continued on Saturday with the three-meter springboard and swimming events.
Platform dive
The Panthers started strong, with seniors Cameron Cash and Jess Vega both earning first-place finishes in Friday’s platform events. Cash posted an impressive score of 338.60, while Vega secured her first win of the season with 263.25.
In the men’s platform event, Pitt achieved a one-two finish, with fifth-year Jackson Salisbury taking second place. On the women’s side, sophomore Mariana Osorio Mendoza scored 242.65 to finish third.
Three-meter springboard
Pitt diving maintained its dominance on Saturday morning, sweeping the men’s three-meter springboard podium. Cash led the way again with a score of 356.80, followed by first-year Noah Bernard and sophomore Chase Marafioto.
“This is my eighth season, and we’ve come a long way,” Pitt head diving coach Katie Kasprzak said. “To show our depth is really encouraging and really positive … it sets us up great for the next few months as we look forward to ACCs and NCAAs.”
In the women’s three-meter, Pitt junior Rachel Dickerson scored 314.90 to top the leaderboards. George Washington junior Olivia Paquette stole second, preventing the Panthers from a top-three finish in both the men’s and women’s three-meter with Mendoza and first-year Jocelyn Brooks clinching third and fourth.
Swimming
The Panthers wrapped up the weekend with a commanding performance in the pool. The women’s team defeated West Virginia 240-57 and George Washington 215.5-84.5 — marking their fifth consecutive win.
The men’s team triumphed over West Virginia 227-70 and George Washington 210.5-89.5. Pitt dominated with 21 event wins on Saturday, including 17 individual victories.
Senior Max Matteazzi led the charge, winning three individual events — the men’s 1000 freestyle, 200 Breaststroke and the 200 IM. “It’s good to race at home. I like to compete in the school … I can feel the people here cheering, and it helps us give our best,” Matteazzi said.
Matteazzi cruised to victory, winning each race by a margin of at least 1.3 seconds, despite swimming the 1000 meters for the first time.
Pitt continued its rhythm in the relays, winning all four events. The men and women started the day of racing by clinching both of the 200 medley relays — finishing one-two in both — before rounding off in style with wins in both 200 freestyle relays to end the day.
Avery Kudlac was a standout performer on Saturday, earning victories in the women’s 200 butterfly with a time of 1:59.44 and the 100 freestyle with a time of 49.40 before anchoring the winning women’s 200 freestyle relay.
Pitt achieved one-two-three finishes in four individual events — women’s 100 backstroke, women’s 100 breaststroke, men’s 100 breaststroke and women’s 100 freestyle. The team also secured a one-two finish in seven other events.
Next up, the Panthers return to Texas to compete in a tri-meet with SMU and Utah in Dallas on Jan. 25.