Vera’s Victories Lead Panthers over Weekend at Purdue Invite

Thursday, November 21

West Lafayette, IN

Prelims: 10 AM, Finals: 6 PM

Pitt

Purdue Invite

Vera’s Victories Lead Panthers over Weekend at Purdue Invite

11/24/2019 9:00:00 AM | Swimming & Diving

Full Results

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind.—The Pitt swimming & diving team won two individual events and produced numerous other quality finishes over a successful three-day weekend at the Purdue Invite.

Junior swimmer Blaise Vera led the way by winning the 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard freestyle in dominant fashion. Vera triumphed in the 50 Free with a national-best time of 19.10 on Thursday before cruising to victory in the 100 Free on Saturday evening with a final time of 42.84.

Facing a quality field of athletes from host Purdue, top-10 team Louisville, FIU, Grand Canyon, Navy, Illinois State and Indiana State, several other Panthers produced season-best times and earned podium finishes throughout the meet.

The result was Pitt placing third in the men's team standings with 492 points, while the Pitt women's team accumulated 531 points to finish fourth at the 2019 Purdue Invite at the Burke Aquatic Center.

Highlight the Panthers' efforts were several top-three performances across various events.

Senior swimmer Valerie Daigneault threated for gold in multiple events. She placed second in the 200-yard individual medley (1:59.61) and the 200-yard backstroke (1:56.11), third in the 100-yard backstroke (54.03) and sixth in the 400-yard individual medley (4:17.98).

Senior Samy Helmbacher was another swimmer who competed for top placements. The reigning ACC medalist took second in the 400-yard individual medley (3:50.09), fourth in the 200-yard individual medley (1:46.71) and seventh in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:00.22).

Another senior, distance swimmer Sarah Giamber, scored numerous points in her events as the j earned silver in the 1,650 freestyle with a strong mile time of 16:34.59 and also placed fourth in the 500-yard freestyle (4:50.39) and fifth in the 400-yard individual medley (4:17.21).

Other Pitt swimmers with notable finishes over the weekend at the Purdue Invite included junior Armin Remenyi, who placed second in the 200-yard butterfly (1:44.98) and third in the 100-yard butterfly (47.45); senior Madelyn Shaffer took third in the 200-yard butterfly (1:57.83), sixth in the 500-yard freestyle (4:51.12) and sixth in the 100-yard butterfly (54.48); and newcomer Cooper van der Laan was a top-five finisher in both breaststrokes, taking fourth in the 100 (53.67) and fifth in the 200 (1:58.39).

Sophomore Amy Read led a strong collective effort from Pitt's divers at Purdue. Read placed third on platform with an impressive score of 252.75 and took fourth on 1-meter springboard with a final total of 299.25. Another sophomore, Serena Buchwald, placed fifth on 3-meter springboard with a 291.45 score and also advanced to the championship final and scored well on 1-meter and platform.

Freshman Dylan Reed and sophomore Josh Parquet both impressed in the men's diving events, securing top-five finishes in all three disciplines to boost Pitt's points total. Parquet was the runner-up on platform with a score of 283.05, while Reed took third in each event.

Following a busy weekend of action at their fall invitational, the Panthers will recuperate and resume training ahead of the upcoming USA Swimming Winter Nationals in Atlanta from Dec. 4-7.

The next official team meet for Pitt swimming & diving will be the traditional Backyard Brawl in the pool just after the New Year when the Panthers face the Mountaineers in Morgantown on Saturday, Jan. 4.

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