The UW-Eau Claire men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams both swam spectacular weekends at the UW-River Falls’ Falcon Invite, taking place at the University of Minnesota Aquatics Center this past Friday
and Saturday.
Men
Senior Alex Plaetzer said the highlight event for the men’s was the 400-yard freestyle relay by sophomore Spencer Rose, junior Corey Groshens, sophomore Aaron Lickel and sophomore Alex Card.
Coach Art Brandt said the sophomore men have been sparks for the team throughout the season and consistently perform well.
The relay team snagged a fourth place finish and a time of 3:12.48.
“They basically tore it up,” Plaetzer said. “It was an incredible swim to watch.”
Senior Nicole Dorvinen said the race was so fun to watch because “everyone was crowded around the pool, making it a very intense moment.”
This meet was not scored on a team level, so Eau Claire doesn’t know how they compared to the other teams, but Plaetzer said that at the invitational the Div. III Blugolds were competing against Div. II and Div. I so their performance was a big confidence booster for the players.
Women
The Eau Claire men weren’t the only competitors to bring the heat at the Falcon Invite. The women exceeded expectations, bringing home 15 top 10 finishes.
“Hands down everyone is super thrilled with how everyone swam,” Dorvinen said. “We ended up surprising ourselves.”
Dorvinen broke a lifetime record in the 1,650 with a time of 2:07.87 and also placed first in the 400, followed by senior Kirsten Lickel.
Junior Sara Eggebrecht also made her personal lifetime best in the 200-backstroke.
“I didn’t expect that,” Eggebrecht said. “I came really close to beating our school record this weekend and that normally doesn’t happen mid-season.”
Dorvinen had an exceptionally interesting meet. After pulling a muscle she was still able to bring home top 10 finishes in three other events.
Both Dorvinen and Plaetzer agreed swimming at the Aquatic Center was a very bittersweet moment for seniors. Plaetzer said he has been swimming since there he was 7, so even though there are many races left in the season, it was hard to swim for the last time.
On Saturday, the Blugolds face-off against UW-La Crosse and for both the men and women, this meet is going to be especially close and important for conference.
Two years ago, in the last dual against La Crosse, the women were beat by a single point. Dorvinen said that even though the teams’ rosters have evolved considerably from two years ago, the teams are still considered evenly matched.
The meet takes place at home at 1 p.m. in McPhee Center.
