Both the men and women swimming and diving teams claimed victories over Findlay on Saturday, Oct. 27, at Saginaw Valley. The Cardinals remain undefeated after the men handled the Oilers 182-114, and the women outdid the opponent 147-141 in a much closer contest.
Junior Alexa Bloom claimed firsts in the 200 butterfly with a time of 2:11.94, 100 butterfly clocking 58.26 and 100 freestyle with a time of 53.04. Sophomore Elizabeth Caird claimed firsts in both her 1-meter and 3-meter diving events, with scores of 229.90 and 226.00, respectively. Lydia Mattar posted a time of 2:23.69 in her 200 breaststroke, earning her first place. She won the 400 IM with a time of 4:42.72.
Cardinal head coach Bruce Zimmerman highlighted the team’s persistence.
“The women’s meet was a nail biter that went down to the very end with either team in a position to come out on top,” Zimmerman said. “At the first diving break, the SVSU women were in a pretty deep hole. The team showed some amazing character and grit and clawed their way back into contention event by event to ultimately pull out a six-point win against the 20th-ranked Division II women’s team in the country.”
The Cardinal men also had several stand-out performers for the day. Senior Dylan Kopacki swam for firsts in his 50 freestyle with a time of 21.88 and his 100 butterfly clocking 52.76. Sophomore diver Justin Ott posted victories in his 1-meter and 3-meter diving competitions, with scores of 232.95 and 291.10.
Zimmerman discussed the strong effort from the men’s team.
“In most events, the men dominated the Findlay swimmers and divers,” Zimmerman said. “I could not be more proud of the way the entire team faced a tough team in a highly competitive meet. It was a great way to begin the tougher portion of our fall meet schedule.”
Saginaw Valley competes Saturday, Nov. 3, against two GLIAC opponents, Northern Michigan and Grand Valley in Marquette.
