Bella Sims Shines as Michigan Sweeps Northwestern and UCLA Women
The University of Michigan swim and dive teams welcomed Northwestern plus the UCLA women to Ann Arbor Saturday for a Big Ten clash. The Michigan women, led by Olympian and NCAA champion Bella Sims, dominated the competition with scores of 205-92 against Northwestern and 193-103 against UCLA. The men’s meet also went to the home team, with the final margin 186-114.
Sims was brilliant in her first official home dual meet as a Wolverine. Leading off the 400 medley relay, she clocked 49.87 for the country’s first sub-50 performance of the season in the 100 backstroke. She followed that up with two individual wins. Sims dominated the 200 freestyle in 1:41.43 , just a hundredth off the top time in the country held by Virginia’s Anna Moesch (1:41.42). Sims clocked a mark of 1:51.26 to finish atop the 200 back
Sims, Letitia Sim, Brady Kendall and Stephanie Balduccini combined for a time of 3:26.82 in a dominant 400 medley relay performance, and Rebecca Diaconescu followed with a win in the 1000 free (9:40.72). Sim beat the field by close to three seconds in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 58.58, and she returned later in the day to crush the 200-yard field in 2:08.02. Hannah Bellard blasted the field in the 200 butterfly with a time of 1:54.07, and she later dominated the 400 IM in 4:07.88.
In the sprint freestyle events, Kendall won the 50 (21.74) while Balduccini took first in the 100. Diaconsecu’s second victory came in the 500 free with a time of 4:45.32, and Leila Fack followed with a 100 fly performance of 52.22. Michigan’s Kiarra Milligan finished first in 1-meter diving (296.30), and the team of Balduccini, Kendall, Fack and Ellie Jo Piersma had the top time in the 200 free relay (1:28.61). Kendall was the top performer on the squad with a split of 21.36.
UCLA’s Claudia Yovanovich topped the 100 back (52.87), and Eden Cheng finished atop 3-meter diving (299.80).
The men’s meet opened with Eitan Ben-Shitrit, Luka Mladenovic, Tyler Ray and Ole Mats Eidam taking first in the 400 medley relay in 3:06.18. Antoine Sauve came in first in the 200 free (1:34.12), and Mladenovic led the way in the 100 breast (51.86). Ray won both butterfly events, clocking 1:42.59 in the 200 and 45.75 in the 100. Eidam was superior in the sprint events, going 19.77 in the 50 and 43.14 in the 100.
Ben-Shitrit won the 200 back (1:42.92) before Mladenovic doubled up in the 200 breast (1:53.88). Sauve completed the mid-distance double with a come-from-behind win in the 500 free (4:20.74). Eidam, Ray, Colin Geer and Mladenovic completed the day with a victorious result in the 200 free relay (1:18.09).
Northwestern’s Joshua Staples was the only swimmer under nine minutes in the 1000 free, clocking 8:58.35. Teammate David Gerchik touched first in the 100 back (47.51), and Diego Nosack snuck under 3:50 to take the win in the 400 IM (3:49.99). Diver Adam Cohen won 3-meter (375.90) while Kyle Ly was the top finisher on 1-meter (320.25).
