FORT PIERCE, Fla. – In one of the marquee meets of the early season, the Nova Southeastern University men's and women's swimming and diving teams were neck and neck with the Indian River State College Pioneers, the number one junior college in the country for 40 years running, before the men fell in defeat and the women pulled out a close win as the meet came down to the final events. IRSC defeated NSU's men by a score of 107-98, while the Sharks women took down the Pioneers by a score of 103-101.
The nail-biting clash between the Sharks and the Pioneers came down to the last few events, as NSU's men were down by just one point heading into the men's 100-yard breaststroke, the second to last event of the meet. The women's meet trumped the men's, as it was tied at 85 apiece, before the afternoon moved into the women's 100- breast.
Leading the way for the Sharks on the men's side and continuing his dominant season,
Thiago Sickert (So., Vila Velha, Brazil) swam two NCAA B-Standard times in the 100-yard backstroke and 50-yard freestyle, recording times of 50.25 and 20.67, respectively. His teammate,
Shane Kleinbeck (Sr., San Antonio Texas) swam a NCAA B-Standard time of his own in the 200-yard freestyle, logging a time of 1:41.36.
The women's side wasn't going to be outdone, as they matched the men with three NCAA B-Standard times on the day.
Emma Wahlstrom (So., Stockholm, Sweden) swam a NCAA B-Standard time of 1:53.80 in the 200-free, while her teammate,
Bryndis Hansen (So., Akureyri, Iceland), recorded a NCAA B-Standard time of 57.13 in the 100-yard butterfly.
Courtney DeVeny (Fr., Estero, Fla.) continued her success, shaving .52 seconds off of her NCAA B-Standard time that she swam last week in the 400-yard individual medley. Her time of 4:32.05 currently ranks fifth nationally.
The Sharks captured their first win of the day when freshman
Alexis Diaz (Summerfield, Fla.) swam a time of 17:47.85 in the 1650-yard freestyle. After Wahlstrom and Kleinbeck swam their NCAA B-Standard times, Hansen would follow with a win in what was tagged as one of the marquee events of the day, the 50-yard free, with a time of 24.19. Sickert and DeVeny would then continue their success, setting the tone for
Marco Aldabe (So., Alicante, Spain), who swam a first-place time of 4:05.08 in the 400-IM.
Brooke Munion (So., Bethlehem, Pa.) would soon follow with a win in the 500-yard freestyle, swimming a time of 5:10.04. Kleinbeck then seized his second win of the day, swimming a 4:40.38 in the 500-yard freestyle.
The Sharks closed the meet with wins in the men's and women's 800-yard freestyle relay, with the women's A-team consisting of Hansen, Wahlstrom, Munion and Diaz swimming a first-place time of 7:47.48, missing the NCAA B-Standard cut by .01 seconds. The men's A-team consisting of Aldabe, Kleinbeck,
Thomas Rutherford (Fr., North Port, Fla.) and
Javier Caballero (So., Pamplona, Spain) swam a winning time of 6:56.16.
The Sharks will take a weekend off before they dive back into competition against Sunshine State Conference rival, the University of Tampa Spartans, on Nov. 22.
