Swimming and Diving Web Special

Carolyne Savini crushed a school record and placed in four events to aid in the Pitt women’s… Carolyne Savini crushed a school record and placed in four events to aid in the Pitt women’s swimming and diving team’s second-place finish in last weekend’s Indiana Invitational.

It was a big win for the Panthers, who topped seven teams, one of which – namely, Missouri – was nationally ranked No. 23.

Pitt started strong Friday with a victory by Savini in the 200-yard individual medley. She then joined Ryan Redman, Kelli Tielking and Kristin Brown to place second in the 400-yard medley relay.

On the next day of competition, the Panthers claimed first-place finishes in both the 100-yard butterfly and the 200-yard medley relay.

It was during the preliminary rounds that Savini broke Amy Jackson’s school record in the 200-yard freestyle. Savini beat the 21-year-old record by three hundredths of a second.

Diver Mary Houghton helped secure Pitt’s second-place standing going into the third day with a 12th-place finish on the 3-meter board.

Savini earned her final first-place during Sunday’s finals in the 200-yard backstroke.

The Panthers remained in second place with an overall score of 714 points, topped only by No. 13 Indiana with 838 points.

Men’s swimming and diving

The No. 18 men’s swimming and diving team finished first overall in the invitational, later recapturing its No. 17 ranking from earlier this season.

The Panthers placed first in 11 separate events to accumulate 1,156.5 points over the three days.

Pitt received strong performances from both individuals and relay teams, with many swimmers participating in both.

Eric Limkemann was one of those swimmers, placing first in the 200-yard freestyle both Friday and Saturday, the 400-yard individual medley and was a member of the 800-yard freestyle relay team, along with Adam Webber, Hannes Kohnke and Darryl Washington, that placed first.

Pitt relay teams were able to capture first in both the 200-yard freestyle and the 400-yard medley. Individually, Jeff Leath, Ken Shealhorse and Randy Gertenach all placed in their events. Diver Matthew Schwartz placed fourth in the meet and third on the 3-meter board to help boost the team to victory.

Both the men and women’s teams will be back in action Dec. 12 for Pitt’s holiday meet.