Bakersfield’s participation in the diving events extended the winning margin as the Seattle University swim team stayed close throughout the afternoon before losing, 170.5 to 123.5, Saturday afternoon in a collegiate dual meet at the UI Swim Center.
Bart Wanot (Federal Way, Wash.) was Seattle U’s top performer as he helped win three events for the Redhawks, starting with a leadoff 100 backstroke split of 50.81 seconds to join with Gabe Wheeler (Round Rock, Texas), Jack Baldoni (Applegate, Calif.), and Tanner Schelling (Boise, Idaho) in winning the 400 medley relay in 3:27.04. He would go on to win the 100 backstroke in 51.15 seconds and the 200 backstroke in 1:51.77.
Schelling also picked up an event victory, finishing first in the 50 freestyle with a time of 21.11 seconds, plus he finished second in the 100 freestyle in 47.66 seconds. Schelling also led off the team’s 200 freestyle relay with a 21.09-second split, helping him, Wanot, Baldoni, and Kyle Moline (Mercer Island, Wash.) finished second overall in 1:24.77. Moline won the 200 butterfly in 1:53.18, with Baldoni finishing second with a time of 1:56.49.
Connor Webb (Hood River, Ore.) earned Seattle U’s sixth and final event victory of the afternoon, winning the 200 breaststroke in 2:08.70, just 15/100ths of a second ahead of Wheeler in 2:08.85. In the 100 breaststroke, Wheeler finished in second place with a time of 59.28 seconds, followed by Webb in third place in 59.40 seconds.
“Despite losing 32 points to Bakersfield in the diving events, we stayed right with them today, especially after the first break when everyone was supporting each other. Today’s meet came down to a lot of touches that did not go our way, so that is something we will continue to work on,” Seattle U head men’s swim coach Craig Nisgor said.
The Seattle University swim teams will start training for potential competitions during the first week of December, either the Winter Nationals in Greensboro, N.C., or the Husky Invitational at the King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way, Wash.