DURHAM – The Duke swimming and diving program is set to kick off the 2022 ACC Championships Tuesday at McAuley Aquatic Center on the campus of Georgia Tech in Atlanta.
MEET SCHEDULE
Preliminaries are set for 10 a.m. with finals to follow at 6 p.m. on Wednesday through Saturday. On Tuesday, diving preliminaries begin at 11 a.m. and finals at 4:30 p.m. The 1650 freestyle will be Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
Tuesday, Feb. 15
800 Freestyle Relay, Women's One-Meter Diving, Men's Three-Meter Diving
Wednesday, Feb. 16
500 Freestyle, 200 Individual Medley, 50 Freestyle, 200 Freestyle Relay, Men's One-Meter Diving
Thursday, Feb. 17
400 Individual Medley, 100 Butterfly, 200 Freestyle, 200 Medley Relay, Women's Three-Meter Diving
Friday, Feb. 18
200 Butterfly, 100 Backstroke, 100 Breaststroke, 400 Medley Relay, Men's Platform Diving
Saturday, Feb. 19
200 Backstroke, 100 Freestyle, 200 Breaststroke, 1650 Freestyle, 400 Freestyle Relay, Women's Platform Diving
DUKE AT THE ACC CHAMPIONSHIPS
The Duke women have placed in the top six at the ACC Championships the previous six seasons. Junior
Ali Watson has earned All-ACC honors in platform diving the previous two seasons to highlight the Duke performances. The Duke men have placed 10th the last two seasons.
HOW TO FOLLOW
Live results will be updated throughout the meet on Meet Mobile and the ACC website at theACC.com. Diving results can be found on DiveMeets.com. The meet will also be streamed on ACC Network Extra. Dave Leno (pxp), Brooke Bennett (swimming analyst) and Jason Bauman (diving analyst) will be on the call.
DUKE IN THE POLL
The Duke women's swimming and diving program broke into the February edition of the College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America TYR Poll at No. 25.
The Duke women's side (5-3, 3-2 ACC) opened the season strong, winning its first four dual meets. The Blue Devils' 4-0 record was the program's best since the 2015-16 and is just the fifth time in program history that Duke opened the season with four consecutive dual meet wins.
In addition, the Duke women's team have amassed 34 times that rank in the top-10 in program history so far this season, including sophomore
Sarah Foley's school records in the 100 breaststroke, 200 breaststroke and 400 individual medley.
COMBINED MEET
For the first time under head coach
Dan Colella, the ACC Championship meet will take place the same week for both the men and the women. The McAuley Aquatic Center was originally built for the 1996 Olympic Games and is the current home of the Georgia Tech swimming and diving program.
RECORD BOOK UPDATE: SIX TOP-10 TIMES AT HOKIE INVITE
In advance of the ACC Championships next week, select members of the Duke swimming and diving team recorded 25 career-best times, including six times that ranked in the program's top-10, at the Hokie Invitational in Christiansburg, Va.
Senior
Matthew Whelan's mark of 46.88 in the 100 butterfly broke his tie for fourth place on the program record books. In the women's 100 butterfly, sophomore
Aleyna Ozkan set a career-best on Friday before topping it on Saturday with a 53.47, good for ninth in program lore.
Freshman
Evan Greer and senior
Zoe Lusk broke into the top-10 in the 100 backstroke. Greer moved to eighth in the men's chart (48.54) while Lusk now sits 10th in the women's (54.19).
Senior
Colson Zucker recorded a time of 1:58.87 in the 200 breaststroke to place eighth in program history. Rookie
Jack Christian wrapped up the top-10 times in program history, clocking a 1:46.82 in the 200 backstroke (ninth).
O'MEARA CONTINUES TO SHINE
Freshman
Margo O'Meara was named the ACC Women's Diver of the Week following her performances at NC State, the league announced on Jan. 18.
It was the fourth consecutive honor for O'Meara of the season (Nov. 2, Nov. 9, Nov. 23 and Jan. 18). A native of St. Louis, Mo., O'Meara was the first women's diver to earn four consecutive awards since the 2013-14 season. In addition, her four honors in a season were the most by a women's diver since NC State's Madeline Kline earned four in 2018-19.
O'Meara earned her fourth award with a stellar performance at NC State. She swept the springboard competition with scores of 325.35 in the one-meter and 340.65 in the three-meter. So far in her collegiate career, O'Meara has placed first on the three-meter and one-meter board in five of six competitions, each.
During the program's winter break, O'Meara competed at the 2021 USA Diving Winter Nationals. She reached the finals of all three events she competed in, including a second-place finish in the synchronized three-meter diving event. O'Meara teamed up with Kristen Hayden in the competition, scoring 512.10 to finish second. She also placed fifth and sixth on the one- and three-meter boards, respectively.
BOTH PROGRAMS HONORED AS SCHOLAR ALL-AMERICA TEAMS
The College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) selected the Duke men's and women's swimming and diving teams as a Scholar All-America Team for the fall 2021 semester.
Duke was one of 450 schools to receive the award for the spring semester. The Blue Devils boasted GPAs of 3.62 on the women's side and 3.69 for the men's program.
The Blue Devils led the ACC on both the men's and women's sides while the men's GPA tied for third nationally. Duke was one of just four teams to have over a 3.60 GPA for both teams nationwide.
UP NEXT
Following the meet, the Blue Devils will return back to North Carolina and compete at the UNC Last Chance Meet Feb. 25-26 in Chapel Hill.
FOLLOW ALONG
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#GoDuke