Wow Wow Wow! Zips Women win their 10th title in Swim and Dive, and it wasn't even close! We watched the finals on Friday and Saturday on the MAC live stream, which was well done. I was a little concerned looking at the performance list from the NCAA going in that Miami might give the Zips some trouble, and they do have a lot of talent, but Akron's depth (not a good swim term!) was overwhelming, as points are scored for both the Championship and the Consolation finals. By Thursday night it was obviously Akron's meet.
Some great performances by Abby Daniel, who was Swimmer of the Meet, and Rachel Sabotin who was a real workhorse. Maddy Gatrall and Becca Reid were pure winners. Veronica Gorecka had an outstanding meet. One of the coolest thing was Astrid Halvorsen almost winning the 1,650 free from the third of four heats, not actually competing head-to-head with the eventual winner. I think if they had gone head-to-head Astrid would have won.
The really nice story of the week was Grace Nuhfer, who is blind. She set two Paralympic event records at the meet as a Zip! And, the really really nice story is that Charles Guthrie and Jackie Walgren were both there to support the Zips on both nights. I saw video this morning of Charles jumping in the pool afterwards, holding a life preserver! This may have been the Zips most dominant Championship win of the 10.