Eight Pitt Records Fall as Panthers Excel at Ohio State Invitational

Thursday, November 15

Columbus, OH

Pitt

Ohio State Invitational

Eight Pitt Records Fall as Panthers Excel at Ohio State Invitational

11/17/2018 11:00:00 PM | Swimming & Diving

Full Results (PDF)

COLUMBUS, Ohio—On a historic weekend of success for Pitt Athletics, the University of Pittsburgh swimming & diving programs contributed with numerous school-record performances as the Panthers excelled at the prestigious Ohio State Invitational.

With Pitt treating the meet like a championship event to help prepare for the all-important ACC Championships in a few months, John Hargis' Panthers proved they are making huge strides, setting eight school records and winning one event while competing against some of the programs in the country, such as Stanford, Ohio State, Kentucky, Penn State, West Virginia, Yale and more.

Pitt sophomore Blaise Vera had a break-out meet, posting two individual school records, contributing to two relay records and winning one event at the Ohio State Invitational.

Hailing from Clinton, Miss., Vera erased the two oldest marks remaining the Pitt record book, breaking the 50-yard and 100-yard freestyle Pitt all-time records that Michael Grube had held since 2001. After he broke Pitt's 50 Free record in the preliminary races, Vera won the 50 Free with a historic night swim of 19.66 seconds to lower that school record and clinch gold in the final on Thursday evening. On Saturday, Vera's preliminary swim in the 100 Free of 43.18 seconds broke another Grube 17-year-old Pitt record and secured his place in another championship final at the OSU Invite; he would finish fourth.

Vera also contributed to two Pitt relay records as the Panthers crushed their all-time bests in the men's 200-yard medley relay and 400-yard freestyle relay. Luke Smutny, Jason Young, Vera and Ellis Cannon combined to break the 200 Medley Relay record on Thursday with a time of 1:26.86 to place third in the event. On Saturday, Samy Helmbacher, Vera, Eben Vorster and Armin Remenyi collectively shattered the Pitt record in the 400 Free Relay by over a second, placing third in 2:53.55.

Saturday also saw the Pitt women's platform diving record fall as freshman Amy Read made a stellar collegiate debut in the event. A rookie from Leeds, England, Read showed no fear diving off the 10-meter platform and executed several tremendous dives to finish with a score of 245.35 to place third and best Meme Sharp's school record that had stood since 2015.

Three other Panthers broke school records that they already owned by lowering their personal-best times in individual swimming events.

Junior Samy Helmbacher bested his own Pitt record in the 200-yard individual medley with a great final swim of 1:44.79 to finish second on Thursday evening. Helmbacher also finished second in the 400 IM (3:46.12) and fourth in the 200 Breast (1:58.95) as he continued to prove himself as one of the top swimmers in the nation.

Junior Valerie Daigneault lowered the Pitt record in the 200-yard backstroke and took seventh in the final with a time of 1:54.25. Daigneault, who swam 13 times in her events and on relays over the weekend at the OSU Invite, also recorded finishes of eighth in the 200 IM (1:58.75), 11th in the 100 Back (53.37) and 15th in the 400 IM (4:16.21).

Another junior, Madelyn Shaffer, also broke her own school record in the 200-yard butterfly—and she did it twice. Before Shaffer, no Pitt women's swimmer had ever breached the 2:00.00 mark in the 200 Fly, but that record now stands at 1:58.42 after Shaffer posted that time to place 13th at the Ohio State Invitational on Saturday.

With Pitt's entire roster excelling at the OSU Invite, the Panthers were able to finish fourth in the men's team rankings with 1513.5 points—ahead of Yale and West Virginia—and sixth in the women's scores with 953.5 points—above the Mountaineers and Ohio.

After seeing the fruits of their labor in practice and the weight room with dozens of personal-best times, eight school records, numerous top-10 finishes and one championship swim this weekend at the Ohio State Invitational, the Pitt swimming & diving programs will return to training, working hard in the upcoming weeks and months to prepare for the ACC and NCAA Championships in 2019.

Before the end of the calendar year, select Pitt swimmers and divers will compete at the USA Swimming Winter Nationals from Nov. 29 to Dec. 1 in Greensboro, N.C., USA Diving Winter Nationals from Dec. 15 to 21 in Atlanta, Ga., and the annual Pitt Christmas Meet at Trees Pool from Dec. 13 to 16.

Pitt will resume its dual meet schedule with the annual Backyard Brawl against West Virginia on Jan. 5 at Trees Pool with an 11 a.m. start.

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