Women’s swim and dive places first

Once again, the Trojans opened their season winning the SMU Classic.

By JOSH FLOWERS
October 9, 2023
Photo caption goes here. Did you set the cover photo above to LARGE (under Attachment Display Settings)? The image should fill up the whole column (Jasper Wolf)

Sheltered from the blazing Texas heat inside the Robson & Lindley Aquatic Center in Dallas, USC women’s swim and dive started its season off with a splash. The team secured a first place team title after racking up 345 points over 18 events at the SMU Classic this weekend.

The Trojans faced off throughout the weekend against Southern Methodist University, Auburn, Louisville, Missouri and Miami.

Starting strong in the first event, the Trojans triumphed in the 400-yard medley relay, winning with a time of 3:30.90 seconds; the team was composed of debut freshman Macky Hodges, graduate Vasilissa Buinaia, and seniors Kaitlyn Dobler and Anicka Delgado.

Sophomore Justina Kozan carried on the winning mentality and took first in the 400-yard individual medley with a time of 4:07.60. Later in the meet, she placed second in the 200-yard butterfly, coming in at 1:56.72.

Dobler went on to have a big weekend, winning both the 100-yard and 200-yard breaststroke with times of 57.35 and 2:08.59, respectively.

Representing the Trojans in shorter distance events, Delgado swam 22.59 in the 50-yard freestyle to land herself in second place behind the Louisville senior, Gabi Albiero. Buinaia also claimed a spot for herself in the top three of the 100-yard free after touching the wall in 47.94.

In the 200-yard free, freshman Lilla Minna Abraham made her solo debut for the team, winning the event in 1:43.53. She went on to secure another win in the 200-yard individual medley, clocking in at 1:57.51.

USC wrapped up day one of the meet by cinching another victory after Kozan, Hodges, Abraham and sophomore Claire Tuggle combined efforts to finish the 800-yard free relay in 7:02.06.

Junior diver Grace Lee also pooled points for the team, placing third in 3 meter diving and fifth in 1 meter diving with scores of 283.15 and 258.65.

Heading into Saturday’s events, the Trojans nabbed another first place win after Tuggle finished the 500-yard free in 4:42.81. But she didn’t slow down, setting a personal best of 1:58.76 in the 200-yard individual medley and another of 4:12.12 in the 400-yard individual medley last Friday.

Following Tuggle’s success, Kozan, Dobler, Delgado and Buinaia won the 200-yard medley relay by three-tenths of a second with a time of 1:37.02.

The Trojans will compete next weekend at home against Auburn, Hawai’i and UC San Diego in the USC Invitational. The event will start at 1 p.m. Friday at Uytengsu Aquatics Center and go through Saturday.

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Josh-flowers, bryce-dechert, fall-2023, sports, swim and dive

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