Swimming Opens GT Invite with Strong Day One
ATLANTA – The University of Miami women’s swimming team opened its run at the Georgia Tech Invitational in impressive fashion Thursday, compiling a number of strong performances on the first day of action at the GT Aquatic Center.
The morning session of preliminaries was a dominant one for senior Heather Arseth, who delivered a personal record of 23.18 seconds in the 50-yard freestyle for the top spot in the consolation finals. She was joined by junior My Fridell, who was near top form in a time of 23.45 in the same event.
“Our women did really well in the morning, we were very happy,” head coach Andy Kershaw said. “I think in every single spot, we were better than we’ve been all season. That’s always one of our goals each meet.”
Arseth helped lead Miami to a dual meet win last time out against Illinois State, and continued her strong form Thursday.
“It’s always a huge accomplishment to set a personal record, especially as a senior,” Kershaw said. “That’s not an easy thing to do.”
The other two Hurricanes that qualified for the night’s finals were sophomore Cameron Davis and freshman Julie Suarez, who both performed well in the 500 freestyle. Davis qualified for the consolation finals with a time of 4:57.61, while Suarez finished in 4:59.64.
The night session opened strong for Miami, with its “A” entry in the 200 free relay finishing fifth in a loaded field. Fridell and Arseth teamed with sophomore Angela Algee and freshman Rebeka Repman, touching the wall in a time of 1:32.63.
“The relays are fun, especially since we’re swimming so well,” Kershaw said. “That makes it even more fun – putting them together on the relays and letting them go. Seeing the support and sisterhood amongst them, it’s pretty exciting.”
Davis shaved some time off her time in the 500 freestyle finals, touching the wall in a time of 4:57.38. Arseth finished the 50 free consolation in fourth (23.24), while Fridell ended her performance with a time of 23.62.
Miami’s 400 medley relay team of Arseth, Fridell, Repman and senior Amy Wiley ended the night in sixth with a time of 3:44.52. Competing without its diving contingent, the Hurricanes ended the first day of competition with 81 points.
Friday’s schedule (10 a.m. prelims, 6 p.m. finals) includes: 200-yard medley relay, 400 IM, 100 butterfly, 200 freestyle, 100 breaststroke, 100 backstroke, women’s 1-meter diving, men’s 3-meter diving and the 800 freestyle relay.
