The University of Chicago’s Independent Student Newspaper since 1892

Chicago Maroon

The University of Chicago’s Independent Student Newspaper since 1892

Chicago Maroon

The University of Chicago’s Independent Student Newspaper since 1892

Chicago Maroon

Maroons Lose Close Matchup on Senior Day

The Maroon swimming and diving teams took to their home pool to kick off winter quarter competition. The men’s squad ended the weekend… while the women….

This past weekend, the Maroons hosted the UWMilwaukee swimming and diving squad in the last home meet of the season. Although both the men’s and women’teams suffered losses, the Maroons were happy to honor their 14 fourth-years in Gerald Ratner Athletic Center one last time. 

In past years, Chicago has had great difficulty against UWMilwaukee because of its Division I status, but this year the performance at the meet was drastically different. Fourth-year Brian Weisbecker mentioned, “Both our men’s and women’s teams won several events, even sweeping [first through third] in a few. Weisbecker’s remarks 

showed the excellent effort by both men’s and women’s teams this year. 

On the women’s team, fourth-year Jen Law stood out on Senior Night in the 100-yard individual medley (IM) when she broke the school record with a time of 1:01.63. Third-year Maya Scheidl was also triumphant in the 100-yard freestyle event and first-year Daria Wick placed in first for the 100-yard butterfly event with a time of 58.62. 

On the men’s side, fourth-year Thomas Meek also showed a superb performance, finishing in first place in the 50-yard and 100-yard free style events. Second-year Alex Lin also had an outstanding performance in the 100-yard IM when he broke the school record with a time of 53.59, while Keenan Novis won the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1:43.98 and the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 2:10.00. 

Furthermore, the South Side relay teams looked quite impressive on Saturday. The women’s 200-yard medley relay and the 400-yard freestyle relay came in first place with times of 1:47.75 and 3:32.86, respectively. In similar fashion, the men’s 200-yard medley relay and 400-yard freestyle relay also proved victorious with two first place finishes in each of the events, with times of 1:34.26 for the medley event and 3:07.36 for the freestyle event. 

Both teams tried their best to send the fourth-years off with the best performances they could, but a victory was not in the cards for the Maroons. Weisbecker did say that our teammates made each of the seniors cards as well, which was really funny and thoughtful. This is a great signifier of the amazing team chemistry the swim team has, and one of the reasons for its great success in recent years. 

Because of their great team performance this past week, both of the squads look forward to a potential win-win at their upcoming meet versus DePauw and Calvin in Greencastle, Indiana this Saturday, January 23. The Maroons look forward to continuing an impressive season already, with wins at Wheaton, Wash U, and most notably, a first place finish out of ten other teams at the Phoenix Fall Classic back in November. 

Both the men’s and women’s teams have opportunities in the rest of January and February to correct this minor, but still smarting, mishap. All of this comes before the NCAA Championships in Greensboro, North Carolina in March.

Leave a Comment
Donate to Chicago Maroon
$670
$2000
Contributed
Our Goal

Your donation makes the work of student journalists of University of Chicago possible and allows us to continue serving the UChicago and Hyde Park community.

More to Discover
Donate to Chicago Maroon
$670
$2000
Contributed
Our Goal

Comments (0)

All Chicago Maroon Picks Reader Picks Sort: Newest

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *