Swimming and Diving

Aztecs Sweep Past Colorado College, CSU East Bay in Double Dual

It was just another day at the proverbial office for the San Diego State swim and dive team, which completed its second double dual meet sweep in the past week after sinking Colorado College (116-106) and Cal State East Bay (104-89) on Tuesday at Aztec Aquaplex.

Complete Results (PDF)
Aztecs Sweep Past Colorado College, CSU East Bay in Double DualAztecs Sweep Past Colorado College, CSU East Bay in Double Dual
Sara Nimmo/SDSU Athletics

SAN DIEGO – It was just another day at the proverbial office for the San Diego State swim and dive team, which completed its second double dual meet sweep in the past week after sinking Colorado College (116-106) and Cal State East Bay (104-89) on Tuesday at Aztec Aquaplex.

The Aztecs were triumphant in 11 of 13 events, as nine different competitors posted individual victories along with a pair of relays. Consequently, SDSU improves to 9-0 on the season and extends its winning streak to 74 straight dual meets since its last defeat, a 153-147 setback to Colorado State on Jan. 8, 2018.

Among the many highlights for the Scarlet and Black was the return of Alex Roberts to the starting lineup after recovering from off-season shoulder surgery. The two-time reigning Mountain West Swimmer of the Year joined forces with Liv Peebles, Christiana Williams and Kaydence Bispo on SDSU’s victorious 200 medley relay team, which clocked in at 1:43.56, edging the Aztec combo of Abby Storm, Moa Bergdahl, Emily Tenczar and Meredith Smithbaker, who completed the race at 1:44.11.

Roberts later captured an event title in the 100 backstroke with a winning time of 56.02, while Storm was a close second after touching the wall at 56.39, followed by Reka Nyiradi’s fourth-place effort of 58.62.

The Aztecs boasted the top-four swimming in the 200 freestyle, led by newly crowned MW Swimmer of the Week Alli Mann, who logged a swim of 1:51.76, finishing in front of Wilma Johansson (1:54.12), Bergdahl (1:54.37) and Avery Turney (1:55.15).

In addition, Eva Allan emerged triumphant in the 1,000 freestyle with a time of 10:46.50 in her first start of the season in the event, while Elsa Fullerton (11:03.01) took second.

Likewise, SDSU posted a 1-2 finish in the 50 freestyle, where Smithbaker touched the wall at 23:18 to edge Bispo, who clocked in at 23:38.

Shortly thereafter, the Scarlet and Black duplicated the feat in the 400 individual medley, where Nyiradi recorded a victorious time of 4:30.52, while Grace Mering followed in second at 4:32.72.

Following a break, the Aztecs’ victory streak was snapped in the 100 butterfly, as Tenczar (56.12) and Peebles (56.70) finished second and third, respectively, behind East Bay’s Tehani Kong (56.07), while SDSU’s Alex Downing took fifth (58.06).

Similarly, the Aztecs fell just short in the 100 freestyle, where Mann logged a second-place swim of 51.61 behind CSUEB’s Brooklyn Dressel (51.08), followed closely by Johansson (52.04) and Turney (52.12), who were slotted third and fourth.

However, San Diego State would soon rebound with a winning formula after grabbing the top four spots in the 500 freestyle. In her first collegiate start in the event, Bispo was victorious after completing the race in 5:05.48, while Allan was second at 5:12.12, followed by Fullerton (5:15.56) and Summer West (5:20.22).

The Aztecs also flexed their muscles in the 100 breastroke, where Bergdahl emerged triumphant with a time of 1:02.32, while Williams (1:03.01) and Elisa Branca (1:04.78) finished second and third, respectively, ahead of Mering (1:08.43), who took fifth.

Not to be outdone, the Scarlet and Black earned a pair of crowns in diving competition, including Taylor Konopacke, who set a career best on the 3-meter springboard with a score of 282.90, while Jessica Schroeder was a close second with a season-best tally of 282.60, with both totals surpassing NCAA zone qualifying standards.

Later in the meet, Schroeder traded placements with her Aztec teammate, capturing the 1-meter title with a collegiate-best total of 274.73 to eclipse another NCAA zone qualifying mark, while Konopacke also notched a career-high score of 256.73 to finish second.

Rounding out the day’s festivities was SDSU’s victory in the 200 freestyle relay, as the team of Peebles, Storm, Johansson and Mann joined forces for a winning time of 1:35.50.

San Diego State swimmers will make the short drive down Interstate 8 to face Mountain West rival Colorado State and the University of San Diego in a three-team invitational on Saturday, Jan. 11, at USD Sports Center Pool, starting at noon PT.

Meanwhile, Aztec divers will compete at the CBU Lancer Invitational, Jan. 9-11, in Riverside, California. Individual results will be ultimately factored into team scores for the SDSU-CSU-USD meet.