Both Mizzou swim and dive teams placed first overall at the Mizzou Invite Nov. 16-18 over 10 nonconference opponents.
Senior Sharli Brady led the way for the women, breaking multiple school records in the process. Brady set three school and personal records, one on each day of the meet, leading the Tigers to 10 records broken overall. Her 200-yard preliminary individual medley time on the morning of the first day of the meet kick-started the record-breaking, beating the previous Mizzou record of 1:56.30 by almost a full second.
“When I turned around and saw 1:55 I was definitely excited,” Brady said in a press release. “It was also nice to see everyone who I train with every day have success this morning.”
The Mizzou men put up 1,411 points and eased past the five teams they faced: Drury (683.5), Wyoming (671.50), Oklahoma Baptist (419), South Dakota State (352) and Cincinnati (67).
The Mizzou women scored 1,391.5 points to defeat their 10 opponents: Nebraska (774.5), Wyoming (486), Drury (378), Illinois (339), UC Davis (276), Oklahoma Baptist (107), South Dakota State (100), Iowa State (45), Cincinnati (40) and Nebraska-Omaha (2).
Brady highlighted the most complete performance of the season from both Mizzou swim and dive teams.
Over the three days, a total of 25 Mizzou swimmers and divers scored individual wins, along with nine relay team victories.
##Day 1
Brady began Thursday’s preliminaries with her 200 individual medley event win, with a school record-breaking time of 1:55:55. But she was not the only swimmer with a record-breaking performance on the day.
Senior Kira Zubar broke a school record in the 500-yard freestyle, besting her own record with a time of 4:38.80. Zubar achieved the feat in the final round of the 500 free to win the event, improving upon her times from the morning’s preliminary round.
Junior Annie Ochitwa led event winners on the day with victories in the 100-yard butterfly (52.46) and 50-yard freestyle (22.43). Ochitwa continued her recent success in short-distance events; she’s won the last two 100 fly and 50 free events she has competed in.
Other Day 1 swimming winners included sophomore Micah Slaton in the 100-yard butterfly (46.00), sophomore Giovanny Lima in the 500-yard freestyle (4:19.35), sophomore Nick Alexander in the 200-yard individual medley (1:44.93) and junior Luke Mankus in the 50-yard freestyle (19.39). In addition, both Mizzou 200-yard freestyle and 400-yard medley relay teams won.
In diving, junior Kyle Goodwin won the 1-meter event with a score of 397.9. Goodwin continues to be the top-performing male diver, winning the only events for men’s diving so far this season.
##Day 2
Three Tigers broke school records on Friday and the team won 11 events overall.
Juniors Mikel Schreuders and Alex Walton broke school records in the 200-yard freestyle (1:33.24) and the 400-yard individual medley (3:44.08) respectively, while Brady broke her second Mizzou record with a time of 4:04.37 in the women’s 400 individual medley. Schreuders and Brady initially broke the school record for their events during the preliminary round and then lowered it further in the final round later in the day. All three swimmers won their respective events.
Other swimming winners included senior Hannah Stevens in the 100-yard backstroke (51.30), senior Erin Metzger-Seymour in the 200-yard freestyle (1:45.68) and sophomore Daniel Hein in the 100-yard backstroke (46.72).
In relay events, the Tigers won the men’s and women’s 200-yard medley and the women’s 800 freestyle. The 800 free relay team of Brady, Metzger-Seymour, Zubar and junior Courtney Evensen won the event with a time of 7:03.59, earning a guaranteed spot at the 2018 NCAA championships and the second-fastest time in school history.
In diving, Goodwin won his second event of the meet with a score of 381.95 in the 3-meter competition, while senior Madeline McKernan won the women’s 1-meter event with a score of 309.60.
Head coach Greg Rhodenbaugh commended the team’s effort and mentality on Day 2 of the meet.
“We had a lot of good swims this morning and came back tonight and stepped it up in a lot of ways,” Rhodenbaugh said in a press release. “This is always a tough meet because you have people who are struggling because they’re not rested all the way. But we have others who really don’t care how they feel and are stepping up and going really fast.”
##Day 3
Five more school records were broken on the final day of competition at the Mizzou Aquatic Center.
Brady broke yet another record, this time in the 200-yard butterfly (1:54.56), topping off what was, statistically speaking, the greatest meet of her career.
Ochitwa built off her two event wins from Day 1 and broke a record of her own, winning the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 48.05. The women’s 400 freestyle relay team of Ochitwa, Stevens, Metzger-Seymour and freshman Sammie Jo Porter broke a Mizzou record as well, winning the event with a time of 3:15.53.
On the men’s side, junior Jacob Wielinski broke two school records in the same event, winning the 1,650 yard freestyle with a time of 14:59.09 and reaching the 1,000-yard point in the race in a record time of 9:03.43.
Other event winners on the day included Stevens in the 200-yard backstroke (1:52.31), Zubar in the 1,650-yard freestyle (16:09.51), Hein in the 200-yard backstroke (1:42.37), Schreuders in the 100-yard freestyle (42.86), Slaton in the 200-yard butterfly (1:43.08) and freshman Lauren Savoy in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:11.35).
The men’s 400 freestyle relay team also earned an event win with a time of 2:51.86.
Rhodenbaugh was pleased with his team’s performance, pinpointing endurance as the key to winning the three-day meet.
“We’re asking them to perform at such a high level that it comes down to hundredths and tenths of seconds,” Rhodenbaugh said in a press release. “I’m really proud of how they rallied and stayed after it the whole meet.”
The meet concluded the fall season for Mizzou swim and dive. Action resumes for both teams at the Tennessee Diving Invite, which takes place from Jan. 3-4 in Knoxville, Tennessee.
_Edited by Joe Noser | jnoser@themaneater.com_