UNC Men Defeat Rival Blue Devils, Women Barely Fall Short

Saturday, February 1

Durham, N.C.

Noon

North Carolina

Duke

Tyler Hill cheers on teammates

February 1, 2020 | Swimming & Diving

CHAPEL HILL --- The UNC Swimming and Diving teams ended their regular season Saturday afternoon in a rivalry dual meet against Duke. The Tar Heel men defeated the Blue Devils 162-138, and the women fell short of victory by a miniscule five points, 152.5-147.5. North Carolina's athletes worked together for an impressive team competition, and many including Valdas Abaliksta, Bryanna Cameron, Dimitrios Dimitriou, Caroline Hauder, Tyler Hill and Sophie Lindner scored at least one first-place and one second-place finish.

"I'm proud of our team tonight," said head coach Mark Gangloff. "Every athlete stepped up and competed with everything they had."

Highlights for the UNC's women included Hauder and Lilly Higgs tag-teaming first and second in the 100-yard backstroke and Hauder, Grace Countie, Emma Cole, and Lindner taking first place in the 400-yard freestyle relay to close the meet.

For the men, Dimitriou and Thomas Bretzmann secured first and second in the men's 500-yard freestyle. Later in the meet, Hill, Greg Brocato, and Santos Villalon sweeping first through third in the men's 100-yard butterfly.

Additionally, a large handful of athletes swam personal records at Saturday's rivalry meet.

Over in the diving well, Emily Grund placed second in the 1-meter competition with a personal record of 309.38 and first in the 3-meter competition. For the male divers, Fabian Stepinski and Alex Hart landed second and third place in both the 1-meter and the 3-meter. Both Stepinski and Hart dove for new personal records in the 3-meter competition.

"Great effort and great fight from the whole time," said head diving coach Yaidel Gamboa. "We continue to improve even though the outcome wasn't what we planned for. As a team, I think we did great."

North Carolina will not compete again until ACC Championships, beginning February 19 for the women and divers and February 26 for the men.

"We should feel extremely prepared to have great ACC and NCAA Championships," said Gangloff. Gamboa reiterated his sentiments.

To keep up with the Tar Heels as they train for these meets, follow the team's official Instagram and Twitter accounts.