University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Pitt Swims Against Notre Dame, Virginia Tech In Dual Meet
11/7/2014 12:00:00 AM | Swimming & Diving
| Pitt at Notre Dame/Virginia Tech | |||
| Date | Friday, Nov. 7 at 5 p.m. (ET) & Saturday, Nov. 8 at 10 a.m (ET) | ||
| Location | Rolfs Acquatic Center / Notre Dame, Ind. | ||
| Television | N/A | ||
| Radio | N/A | ||
| Online | | | Live Video Stream (Sat) | ||
| Game Notes / Stats | 2014-15 Top Times | 2014-15 Factbook | School Records | ||
| Promotions | N/A | ||
| Social Media | @PittSwimAndDive - Twitter / Facebook / Instagram | ||
PITTSBURGH - After nearly two weeks off, the Pitt swimming and Diving teams return to the pool with a two-day dual meet at Atlantic Coast Conference nemesis Notre Dame beginning on Friday, Nov. 7 at 5 p.m. Virginia Tech is also participating, giving the Panthers a chance to grab a pair of important conference wins on the weekend.
The luxury of a two-day meet allows the teams to swim a full-length event, which includes five relays and the longer 1,650-yd freestyle for the first time this season. In total 22 events will take place over the multi-day affair.
Friday's event list begins with the 200-yd free relay and ends with back-to-back relays, the 200 medley and 800 free. In between, the individual swims taking place are the 400-yd IM, 100-yd butterfly, 200-yd backstroke, 100-yd breaststroke, 100-yd free and 1,650-yd free. For diving, the women will compete at 1-meter while the men dive from 3-meters.
All three teams will resume action on Saturday morning starting at 10 a.m. The 400 medley relay and 400 free relay bookend the start and finish on the day. Individual races begin with the 500-yd free, followed by the 200 IM, 50 free, 200 fly, 100 back, 200 breast and 200 free.
LAST TIME OUT
Pitt swept the entire weekend as both the men and women won two duals apiece against St. Bonaventure and Bucknell. The men won their duals by scores of 157-80 (St. Bonaventure) and 185.5-109.5 (Bucknell) while the women posted 166-70 (St. Bonaventure) and 195-100 (Bucknell) victories.
B CUT FOR CICHOWSKA IN THE BREASTSTROKE
Sophomore Kinga Cichowska became the first Pitt swimmer this season to hit an NCAA "B" cut time with her performance in the 100-yd breast on Oct. 24 against St. Bonaventure. Her time of 1:02.48 puts her 22nd in the nation and third in the ACC. Cichowska is just one of 22 performers to swim a "B" cut time in the 100 breast and no one has reached "A" cut status yet. Cichowska also has a solid time in the 200 breast of 2:16.81, ranking her 40th nationally and seventh in the conference.
RICHEY REGISTERS FRESHMAN RECORD
Freshman Amanda Richey continues to lower the freshman standard in the 1,000 free, setting the record for the third time in just four races into her collegiate career. Most recently, Richey swam the race in 9:51.92 on Oct. 25 against Bucknell, which gives her the fastest time in the ACC and 10th fastest time in Division I. That time also makes Richey the second fastest freshmen in the country and is just 1.92 seconds away from the Pitt school record.
Richey initially established the freshman record in the 1,000-yd freestyle in the Blue-Gold meet with a time of 9:58.78, lowering the standard by nearly three seconds. Against Duke, Richey took down her own time, swimming the 1,000 in 9:54.46.
Overall, Richey is undefeated in three 1,000-yd free races and has won eight of her 11 competitions. She has finished in the top-three in every race, which includes a time of 4:53.17 in the 500 free, placing her 45th in the country and sixth in the ACC.
SWIMMERS RANK AMONG NATION'S BEST
Through one month of competition, five Pitt swimmers own top-50 times in their respective races with three holding top-25 times in the country.
In addition to Richey and Cichowska, the men are represented by sophomore Zach Lierley, senior Kourosh Ahani and junior Martin Vogel.
Having raced in the 400 IM just once this season, Lierley swam the 25th fastest time of 3:57.58 in the event and also ranked third in the ACC. Competing in the fly, Ahani ranks 36th nationally with a time of 48.89 seconds at the 100-yd distance, while Vogel's best time in the 200-yd fly is 1:49.23. Both times rank 10th in the ACC.
DIVERS RACKING UP POINTS
Senior Harris Bergman and freshman Meme Sharp have established themselves as the top divers on Pitt's squad with some high-scoring performances last time out.
Bergman won all four diving events with NCAA zone qualifying scores in the sweep of St. Bonaventure and Bucknell. He won three of his dives by at least 20 points, including the 3-meter dive versus Bucknell by a whopping 66 points, running away with the title with a season-best 377.78 points. That score was the best dive by a Pitt student-athlete since November of 2008 when Alex Volecetski scored 392.55.
Sharp showed similar success to Bergman, winning three of four events during the two-day span and scoring NCAA zone qualifying standards all four times. Sharp's season-best performance of 298.12 points on the 3-meter dive against Bucknell was the highest by a Pitt female diver since January 2011.
NOSBISCH AND LIERLEY SET EYES ON OLYMPICS
Qualifying times for the 2016 Olympic Trials were recently released, and two Pitt swimmers already made the cut with their performances at the 2014 Phillips 66 National Championships, held back in August.
Senior Luke Nosbisch, who previously swam at the 2012 Olympic Trials, qualified in the 200-meter backstroke with a time of 2:15.89 - a full 2.5 seconds faster than the cut time. Following in the footsteps of his older brother Jon, who is a senior at Pitt this year and qualified for the 2012 Olympic Trials, Zach Lierley will participate at the next Olympic Trials in the 200-meter backstroke. His time of 2:03.14 was 0.65 faster than the qualifying standard.
UP NEXT
Following another layoff next weekend, Pitt returns to Trees Pool after nearly a month since its last home events to host the Pitt Invitational from Friday, Nov. 21 to Sunday, Nov. 23. Currently, nine teams are slated to participate, including ACC opponent Clemson.
Players Mentioned
