Women's Swimming And Diving Displays Promising Start To Season

Upper West Side NY

12 December, 2021

12:28 PM

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Columbia Daily Spectator BY TUPELO SULLIVAN DECEMBER 9, 2021 Columbia women's swimming and diving competed in four meets in the fall semester, compiling an even record. Although the Lions currently have only one conference win, they have showcased an impressive array of individual performances that point to a strong season ahead. The Lions (2-2, 1-2 Ivy) made their debut at home on Nov. 5 with a nail-biting victory against Penn 158-142. Sophomore Allegra Walker touched the wall in both the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke, recording a team-leading 18 points. In addition, sophomore Aziza Ganihanova displayed impressive range, winning the 200-yard backstroke, finishing second in the 1,000-yard freestyle, and clinching a third-place finish in the 200-yard IM swim to supply the team with 16 points. On the diving board, the Light Blue made a splash as sophomore Alice Diakova, first-year Macy Pine, and senior Briget Rosendahl swept the 3-meter dive. Diakova and Rosendahl also went 1-2 in the 1-meter dive, both achieving NCAA zone qualifying scores. Despite strong individual performances throughout the meet, the outcome was determined by the final race: the 200-yard freestyle relay. Junior Tina Le anchored the team with a 23.22 leg, which helped the Lions outpace the Quakers by only one-twentieth of a second (1:34.79, 1:34.84). Unfortunately for the Lions, their momentum from the season-opener was halted just one day later when Harvard bested the Light Blue 179.5-115.5, with the Crimson placing first in 12 out of the 16 events. Still, Walker continued to lead the team in points with a first-place finish in the 200-yard breaststroke, edging out Harvard swimmer Victoria Eisenhower for silver in the 100-yard breaststroke. The Light Blue divers amassed 12 points collectively, led by Pine's second-place performance in the 3-meter dive and senior Michelle Lee taking home third in the 1-meter dive. Following a week-long recovery from the two back-to-back meets, the Lions traveled to Yale for their first away meet, suffering a 194-106 defeat against the Bulldogs. Despite the beatdown, Ganihanova had a day to remember. The sophomore captured Columbia's first win by swimming the 1,000-yard freestyle in 10:05.65, and then proceeded to win the 200-yard backstroke in 2:00:86, over 3 seconds ahead of the next competitor. Diakova and Pine continued to assert their prowess on the diving board, earning top marks in the 1- and 3-meter events, respectively. Over the three dual meets the Lions competed in, a Columbia diver procured first place in all but two races. "This is maybe one of the strongest groups I've ever coached," head diving coach Scott Donie said. "We work hard every day: We're in the weight room, we're diving, we're doing gymnastics, yoga, [and] ballet. We kind of do a little bit of everything. It's a fantastic group." In its final meet before the winter recess, Columbia women's swimming and diving headed to compete in the Eastern College Athletic Conference Winter Swim & Dive Championships, shattering an astounding 10 meet records over the three-day event last weekend. The Lions opened the meet by one-upping their own 200-yard freestyle relay meet record set in 2017, this time hitting the wall in 1:33.69. The team also beat New York University's previous 400-yard medley relay meet record but were second behind the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Individually, Ganihanova's 4:50.71 in the 500-yard freestyle produced both a victory and a meet record, besting the record set in the preliminaries by teammate Callie Breiter. Columbia finished the first day with a 200-point lead over the competition, furthering the gap on Saturday with a 311-point lead ahead of UMBC. Senior Mary Pruden won the day's first individual race in the 400-yard IM swim, capturing the meet record and leading the Light Blue to a top-three sweep. In the 100-yard butterfly, senior Emily Wang outpaced the nine-year meet record with a time of 54.62, and, in the very next event, sophomore Callie Breiter's 1:50.17 200-yard freestyle was quick enough to take down the meet's standing record. With only the final event, the 800-yard freestyle relay, left, the Lions already boasted a sizable team lead and three individual meet records. However, Columbia showed no signs of stopping: The Lions' 7:20.76 effort not only smashed the old meet record by 11 seconds, but ranked as the top three performances in the Light Blue's history. Entering the last day of the meet, Columbia's sizable lead suggested an easy win. Yet the Lions proved they had even more to show, kicking off the competition with a first-place finish by Walker in the 1,650-yard freestyle. The victory cemented the New Hampshire native as the tournament's top scorer with 114 points over the weekend. Meet records continued to fall on the third day, even as athletes grew tired from the previous events. Both Ganihanova's time of 1:58.23 in the 200-yard backstroke and first-year Emily MacDonald's preliminary time of 50.60 trumped the previous meet records. To close out the weekend, two Columbia 400-yard freestyle relay teams beat the meet's 11-year record and went one-two against 20 other teams, extending their team lead over UMBC to a final 309 points. At the end of the day, first-year Julia Unas was recognized as Swimmer of the Meet by the coaches, following her second-place result in the 400-yard IM, sixth-place finish in the 200-yard IM, and two eighth-place performances in the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke. Unas attributed much of her accomplishment to her team: "I think my performance was all because of my teammates who were so incredible," Unis said. "Every time they swam, it inspired me to do better, and the culture that they bring creates better performances. I'm just so happy and excited to be on this team." While Columbia's performance this semester is promising for the rest of the season, head coach Diana Caskey emphasized that the team plans on taking things one step at a time. "Having not had a season last year, my goal with my team is to train the best that we can, get back into racing, stay in the process, and we let the results take care of themselves," Caskey said. "I think we're going to have some great results." The Lions will return to action on the road against Brown Jan. 15. Staff writer Tupelo Sullivan can be contacted at [email protected]. Follow CU Spec Sports on Twitter @CUSpecSports. Founded in 1877, the Columbia Daily Spectator is the independent undergraduate newspaper of Columbia University, serving thousands of readers in Morningside Heights, West Harlem, and beyond. 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