The Missouri swim and dive team saw mixed results Saturday, as the Mizzou men defeated South Carolina 154-144, while the Mizzou women suffered losses to Arkansas (167-133) and South Carolina (172-129) in a double dual meet.
The men’s meet was decided in the 400-freestyle relay, the final event of the afternoon. The Tiger’s relay team of junior Mikel Schreuders, sophomore Giovanny Lima, junior Sam Coffman and freshman Alex Moore beat South Carolina’s relay team to the wall for the overall win.
Head coach Greg Rhodenbaugh saw potential in his team to improve upon the day’s performance.
“We had a lot of really good swims and a lot of good races,” Rhodenbaugh said in a press release. “We lost a lot of really close races, which I’m really disappointed in. That cost us the meet on one side and almost cost us the meet on the other side. But we were faster at this meet than we were at the last meet, so we’re taking steps.”
Sophomore Daniel Hein had a particularly successful meet, winning both the 100- and 200-yard backstroke events.
“I just wanted to get out there and really race,” Hein said. “That was my focus, not really focused about times, but just doing what I can to get to the wall first.”
In diving, Mizzou junior Kyle Goodwin stole the show, winning the 1-meter competition with a score of 335.40 and the the 3-meter with a score of 370.20. Head diving coach James Sweeney praised Goodwin’s performance.
“[Goodwin’s] scores were at a very competitive level,” Sweeney said. “He competed a brand-new, very difficult dive. He had never done it in competition before — we’ve been building it up for the past six months and he got a seven on the dive and was very successful with it.”
Other standout performers on the men’s side included Micah Slaton and Lima, who won the 100-yard butterfly and the 200-yard freestyle, respectively.
According to Rhodenbaugh, it was the lack of a final push that did Mizzou in on the women’s side.
“How do you beat somebody in the last yards? By having more heart,” Rhodenbaugh said. “We just need to get everyone on the same page as far as finishing races and swimming them correctly.”
Junior Hannah Stevens was the bright spot for the Mizzou women, winning the 100-yard backstroke with an NCAA ‘B’ qualifying time of 54.57. With this time, Stevens is close to securing a spot at the season-end NCAA championships in the 100-yard backstroke. Stevens would need an ‘A’ qualifying time of at least 51.45 to guarantee her spot.
In women’s diving, Sweeney commended his divers for their effort against tough competition.
“We had two competitors here who are arguably the two best divers in the country,” Sweeney said. “Knowing that going [into the meet], I told my kids that I would be really happy to see great performances from our girls up against the very best of the best that our country has in the NCAA.”
Up next for Mizzou swim and dive is a trip to Carbondale, Illinois, Nov. 3-4 for a double dual meet against SEC foe Kentucky and Southern Illinois.
_Edited by Joe Noser | jnoser@themaneater.com_