Records are meant to be broken.
After a month-long hiatus from competition, Ohio (4-1, 2-0 Mid-American Conference) broke nine pool records against Denison en route to a 157-143 victory, which could serve as a revitalization for the second half of the season.
After experiencing disappointment in a loss against Ohio State on Nov. 9, Ohio fired on all cylinders on Saturday, placing the team first in nine of the meet’s 16 events.
“It’s exciting to come away with the first victory of the new year,” coach Derek Roe said. “I thought we performed quite well and I’m really excited to see what we can put together coming down the line once we get a lot of chances to compete here in the second semester.”
The first win of 2014 comes after Roe and the team spent 12 days in Florida during winter break, as they trained and prepared for the six remaining dual meets this season.
The Bobcats swept the top three spots in the 200-yard backstroke, and senior Rachel Stearns set a new record at the Trumbulle Aquatic Center with a time of 2:03.53.
Long distance swimmer Laurin Williams out-swam Denison’s Taylor Johns in the 1650-yard freestyle to also set a pool record with a time of 17:12.25.
Sophomore Addison Ferguson continued Ohio’s record-breaking meet by placing first in the 100-yard backstroke, which set another new pool record with a time of 56.24.
Finally, the 200-yard medley team of junior Tori Bagan and sophomores Ferguson, Casey Papp and Haley Clark shattered the previous mark by clocking in at 1:44.96.
The dive team also set high marks coming off the break, sweeping the top four spots in the one-meter and three-meter dive events.
Junior Haliegh Bartlett started the 2014 year on the right foot, breaking her own one-meter dive record with a score of 310.05 as junior Morgan Srail later broke Bartlett’s previous record on the three-meter dive to finish with a season-best 328.50.
Despite the strong start to the new year, the team will remain adamant on the task at hand with a 12th Mid-American Conference Championship.
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