Panthers Sweep Backyard Brawl

Saturday, January 5

Pittsburgh, PA

9:30 AM

Pitt

West Virginia

1/5/2019 4:00:00 PM | Swimming & Diving

Results (PDF)Photo Gallery

PITTSBURGH—The University of Pittsburgh swimming & diving teams defended their home pool in the Backyard Brawl against West Virginia on Saturday as the Panthers secured comfortable dual meet victories over the Mountaineers at Trees Pool.

With Pitt and West Virginia meeting for the 25th consecutive season in swimming & diving, the Panthers extended their women's winning streak over WVU to seven with a 197.5-102.5 victory, while the Pitt men avenged last year's loss in Morgantown with a 175-125 win.

"I'm proud of our team for the way we battled and competed throughout this meet, especially because we've been training really hard recently," Pitt head coach John Hargis said. "West Virginia has some talented athletes on both teams, so we had to earn each and every victory. The relays were all extremely exciting to watch for this raucous home crowd at Trees Pool, and we really appreciated their support in this Backyard Brawl. We showed that we're improving as a team and making strides that will benefit us in the upcoming championship season."

Pitt earned 21 total event victories on Saturday against West Virginia, with 17 individual swimming wins, two relay triumphs and two individual wins in diving.

"Consistency was key today for all of our divers," Pitt head diving coach Katie Hazelton said. "We executed well and maximized our points total for the team. It was exciting to see our swimmers, divers and fans all come together to earn team wins in a rivalry like the Backyard Brawl. We're excited for the next few weeks of training as we look forward to our upcoming dual meets as well as the ACC Championships and NCAA events."

Leading the way for the Panthers, senior Rachel Brown won all three of her individual events – the 50-yard freestyle (22.96), 100-yard freestyle (50.51) and 200-yard freestyle (1:48.52) – to make sure she never experienced defeat against WVU in her Pitt career.

Sophomore Armin Remenyi and juniors Valerie Daigneault, Sarah Giamber, Samy Helmbacher and Eben Vorster also won multiple races to lift the Panthers to team triumphs over the Mountaineers.

Aiding the Pitt men, Remenyi's two wins in the 200-yard backstroke (1:49.55) and 100-yard butterfly (49.30) both came by narrow margins in come-from-behind fashion as the Hungarian veteran of the 2016 Olympics provided crucial team points for the Panthers. Helmbacher triumphed in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:01.89) and the 400-yard individual medley (3:53.19), while Vorster won the 200-yard freestyle (1:37.73) and the 200-yard butterfly (1:46.90) to maximize Pitt's team points total in those events.

For the women, Daigneault starred in the 100-yard backstroke (54.31) and 200-yard backstroke (1:57.39), while Giamber took both distance events in the 500-yard freestyle (4:57.53) and 1,000-yard freestyle (10:03.59).

In diving, junior Krista Jones won the 3-meter springboard with a personal-best score of 309.00, while freshman Amy Read earned a victory on 1-meter springboard with a mark of 290.70. Freshman Wesley Ahart also impressed for the men, placing second on 3-meter (312.98) and third on 1-meter (269.33) to secure valuable points.

The Pitt swimming & diving teams will travel to Denison for a dual meet on Friday, Jan. 18 at 4 p.m. The Panthers will then conclude their 2018-19 home schedule with the traditional Western Pennsylvania Invitational – and Senior Day – on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 25-26 at Trees Pool against several regional collegiate swimming programs.

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