The Massachusetts women’s swim and dive couldn’t pull out a win in their Atlantic-10 tri-meet on Saturday. UMass (0-4) fell to La Salle University and Rhode Island who hosted the event. The Minutewomen scored similarly in both matchups on the day, losing to the Rams (3-3) 153-106 and 152-107 to the Explorers (4-2).
“I thought we fought hard, we came off midseason doing really well, and we had a hard week of training this week,” head coach Maiya Otsuka said. “They are definitely tired, but they did well.”
After losing a tough battle at the Terrier Invitational and having Thanksgiving break, UMass was ready to compete and put its best foot forward. Despite not pulling out the win, the Minutewomen still put together 13 top three finishes on the day, including two first-place finishes. Junior Shreeya Sinha scored a 290.80 on the three-meter dive, clinching the top spot. Graduate Student Bri Williams also took the top spot in the 100-yard back with a time of 57.96.
Williams was also part of the 200-medley relay team, along with Anna Kwon, Lindsay Burbage and Beren Cakiroglu who placed second with a time of 1:47.59. Cakiroglu was a highlight for UMass Saturday with several strong showings on the day, including a third-place finish in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 53.84.
“[Cakiroglu] was strong the whole way through, relied on her really well today and knew that she got it done,” Otsuka said.
Another standout performance came from freshman Danielle Guerin who achieved two personal records on the day. She placed third in both the one and three-meter dives, scoring 279.45 and 272.15 respectively. Guerin’s score on the three-meter dive placed her ninth in the Minutewomen’s all-time records. Another personal best came from sophomore Sophie Porter. Although Porter came second in the 800 freestyle, her time of 8:39.36 marked her personal best.
This was UMass’ first time taking on other A-10 opponents this season in Rhode Island and the La Salle, giving good insight into what the A-10 playoffs could potentially look like in February. The Minutewomen didn’t want to add too much pressure to this meet, and just viewed it as another chance to improve.
“We just want to swim and race and have the opportunities to strategize or race somebody that’s not us every day,” Otsuka said. “I just look at it as we get to see these guys in February, it’s nice to see and race them, but no real pressure added.”
With UMass reaching its halfway point in the season and falling to 0-4, it should be eager to get back to work to polish and refine its craft through the back half of the campaign. One area of focus for the Minutewomen in the coming weeks will be their back-half swims.
“We do really well in the beginning, and now it’s just [time] to refine and tune the back half swims and really get down to the nitty-gritty of what is about to happen and what is about to come,” Otsuka said.
Both the men’s and women’s swim teams for UMass will take a hiatus for the rest of 2024. The Minutewomen and Minutemen will return well-rested on Saturday, Jan. 4 at 11 a.m. for a dual meet at the Chace Athletic Center in Smithfield, RI against Bryant University.
