Panthers Primed to Pink the Pool vs. Miami, Michigan State, JMU
10/26/2017 3:30:00 PM | Swimming & Diving
PITTSBURGH—The Pitt swimming & diving teams will host a home meet for the second consecutive weekend when the Panthers welcome ACC rival Miami, Big Ten foe Michigan State and James Madison of the Colonial Athletic Association to Trees Pool on Friday.
The full meet will begin with diving on Friday evening at 4 p.m. as the Panthers, who saw their men's team ranked No. 13 and the women's team touted No. 21 this week by CollegeSwimming.com, look to build on last weekend's victory over LSU with more dual meet triumphs.
"This is another good opportunity for our team to compete and get better," Pitt head coach John Hargis said. "Every time we race, we want to see improvement. This meet presents us with the chance to work on the details that will help us in our continued preparations to be at our peak for the postseason."
The one-day quad meet will serve as Pitt swimming & diving's Panthers Unite meet, promoting support from the University's group of student-athletes for the Panthers in the pool on Friday.
Moreover, Friday's meet will promote Breast Cancer Awareness Month as the Panthers Pink the Pool. The first 200 fans in attendance will receive a free pink t-shirt. For more information on the inspirational story that Pitt diving coach Katie Hazelton has been sharing this month, read her Off Script story here.
Admission to the meet is FREE for all fans.
Pitt (1-2, 0-2 ACC) is led by reigning ACC Men's Swimmer of the Week Samy Helmbacher, a sophomore who won both individual medleys against Virginia and LSU last weekend while posting NCAA B-cut times in both races.
Helmbacher is one of 43 underclassmen on the Pitt swimming & diving rosters, giving the Panthers one of the youngest squads in all of collegiate swimming.
That youth movement hasn't slowed the Panthers down at all; in fact, Pitt's appearance in the national team rankings this week stems from an incredible improvement in speed from several of the team's top swimmers.
Helmbacher currently has the nation's fourth-best time in the 400-yard IM (3:49.83) and the 12th-best mark in the 200-yard IM (1:47.52). Also among the nation's fastest swimmers for their respective events are juniors Brian Lovasik (13th, 200 Free, 1:37.09; 15th, 500 Free, 4:26.56) and Aaron Sett (22nd, 1000 Free, 9:12.83) as well as sophomores Luke Smutny (16th, 200 Fly, 1:47.83) and Eben Vorster (25th, 200 Fly, 1:48.19).
For the Pitt women, seniors Amanda Richey (17th, 1000 Free, 9:57.00) and Lina Rathsack (19th, 200 Breast, 2:15.63) are joined by sophomore Valerie Daigneault (19th, 1:57.52) in having top-25 individual marks in all of college swimming.
In the diving well, senior Meme Sharp and sophomore Joe Ference continue to lead the Panthers after each posted a pair of top-five finishes on the 1-meter and 3-meter springboards last weekend.
This meet will present a big challenge for the Pitt divers, especially against the in-conference talents of the Miami Hurricanes, who return four NCAA qualifiers in diving.
#H2P | #H2oP | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
The full meet will begin with diving on Friday evening at 4 p.m. as the Panthers, who saw their men's team ranked No. 13 and the women's team touted No. 21 this week by CollegeSwimming.com, look to build on last weekend's victory over LSU with more dual meet triumphs.
"This is another good opportunity for our team to compete and get better," Pitt head coach John Hargis said. "Every time we race, we want to see improvement. This meet presents us with the chance to work on the details that will help us in our continued preparations to be at our peak for the postseason."
The one-day quad meet will serve as Pitt swimming & diving's Panthers Unite meet, promoting support from the University's group of student-athletes for the Panthers in the pool on Friday.
Moreover, Friday's meet will promote Breast Cancer Awareness Month as the Panthers Pink the Pool. The first 200 fans in attendance will receive a free pink t-shirt. For more information on the inspirational story that Pitt diving coach Katie Hazelton has been sharing this month, read her Off Script story here.
Admission to the meet is FREE for all fans.
Pitt (1-2, 0-2 ACC) is led by reigning ACC Men's Swimmer of the Week Samy Helmbacher, a sophomore who won both individual medleys against Virginia and LSU last weekend while posting NCAA B-cut times in both races.
Helmbacher is one of 43 underclassmen on the Pitt swimming & diving rosters, giving the Panthers one of the youngest squads in all of collegiate swimming.
That youth movement hasn't slowed the Panthers down at all; in fact, Pitt's appearance in the national team rankings this week stems from an incredible improvement in speed from several of the team's top swimmers.
Helmbacher currently has the nation's fourth-best time in the 400-yard IM (3:49.83) and the 12th-best mark in the 200-yard IM (1:47.52). Also among the nation's fastest swimmers for their respective events are juniors Brian Lovasik (13th, 200 Free, 1:37.09; 15th, 500 Free, 4:26.56) and Aaron Sett (22nd, 1000 Free, 9:12.83) as well as sophomores Luke Smutny (16th, 200 Fly, 1:47.83) and Eben Vorster (25th, 200 Fly, 1:48.19).
For the Pitt women, seniors Amanda Richey (17th, 1000 Free, 9:57.00) and Lina Rathsack (19th, 200 Breast, 2:15.63) are joined by sophomore Valerie Daigneault (19th, 1:57.52) in having top-25 individual marks in all of college swimming.
In the diving well, senior Meme Sharp and sophomore Joe Ference continue to lead the Panthers after each posted a pair of top-five finishes on the 1-meter and 3-meter springboards last weekend.
This meet will present a big challenge for the Pitt divers, especially against the in-conference talents of the Miami Hurricanes, who return four NCAA qualifiers in diving.
#H2P | #H2oP | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
Players Mentioned
BACK/FREE
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FREE
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BR/FLY/IM
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FREE/IM
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DIVE
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