Women's Swimming Sends Eight To SMU Classic
October 28, 2010 | Swimming & Diving
Oct. 28, 2010
The U of L women's swimming and diving team will travel to Dallas, Texas this weekend for the 17th annual SMU Classic Swim Meet Friday, Oct. 29 and Saturday, Oct. 30 at Perkins Natatorium on the SMU Campus. The SMU Classic provides nationally ranked teams the opportunity to compete all at one meet. This year's SMU Classic hosts elite programs from across the nation, USC from the Pac 10, Louisville from the BIG EAST, Purdue from the Big 10 and Rice and SMU from the C-USA.
The unusual format pits eight swimmers and one diver from each team against a schedule of events that mirrors the NCAA Championship. The SMU Classic showcases the strongest and most versatile swimmers of each program. Due to its design, competing teams must have a representative in each race, however, squads are limited to only eight swimmers and one diver for the entire meet. The eight swimmers that will be representing Louisville this year are Sarah Andrews, Therese Bergstrom, Lacey Bobo, Fanny Lilliestrom, Eszter Povazsay, Krissie Brandenburg, Breann McDowell, Nicole Landisch and current reigning BIG EAST Champion diver, Hannah Gadd.
It is the momentum and competitive spirit from last year's SMU Classic that U of L wants to bring to Dallas. After coming off a hard fought loss to Tennessee, they are eager to dive back in the water and show what the BIG EAST runner-Ups can do. Under the senior leadership from Landisch, Andrews and Bergstrom, the Cards have a shot at finishing on top, evening their 0-1 record and a chance to take home the title.
Last year, U of L came home from the SMU Classic with the second place trophy after posting a score of 309 trailing only to national power, Florida (353). Louisville beat out a star-studded field which included Wisconsin (280), SMU (271), Florida State (257), and Rice (186).
The highlights of last year's meet fell on the 400-free relay with the combined power of Leslie VanWinkle, Whitney Campbell, Sarah Andrews and Liz Halet. They swept the field and finished first with a time of 3:24.88.
Leslie VanWinkle finished second in the 500-free with a time of 4:58.73 and teammate Eszter Povaszy added points with a third place finish in the 200-back. Therese Bergstrom was second in the 200-breaststroke with a time of 2:16.34 which is an NCAA B-cut time. Heather Holtom won the consols with a time of 2:19.96. Hannah Gadd won the 1-meter board and finished fifth in the 3-meter with 264.30 points.
Whitney Campbell was second in the 100-free with a time of 51.19 and then Liz Halet won the consols in 51.41 for additional points. Raine Thompson was fifth in the 200-fly, going 2:07.06. Leslie VanWinkle added to her point total with a second in the 200-IM with a time of 2:04.13.
