After their last competition in the first week of December and an intense training camp in St. Croix, Villanova’s men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams returned to the pool Friday and Saturday, Jan. 16 and 17, at the University of Pittsburgh. The Wildcat women fell to Pittsburgh (228-125) and Maryland (247-104), while the men were defeated by the Panthers (298-49), the Terrapins (279-54) and Norte Dame (282-51).

One of the big winners for ‘Nova was senior Rebecca Koch, who captured first place in the 500 freestyle with a time of 4:55.93 and in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:53.22. She also placed second in the 1650 free, finishing in 16:50.12.

Other top performers for the women included juniors Tori Delollo and Nicole Werger and freshmen Jenny Sommerville and Annie Kelly. Somerville finished third in the 1650 free (17:00.45) and fourth in the 500 free (5:02.41). Delollo placed fourth in the 100 back (59.26) and third in the 200 back (2:05.64). Werger recorded a sixth place finish in the 100 back (59.65) and an eighth place finish in the 50 free (25.10).

“Considering how we’ve been training a lot and not really racing, I think everyone did a really good job,” Kelley said. In addition to her fourth place finishes in the 100 fly (58.01) and 200 IM (2:08.90), Kelley also placed second in the 400 IM (4:28.32) and seventh in the 200 fly (2:09.08).

Another highlight of the weekend involved freshman Allison Stine. Stine qualified for the Big East Championship meet by earning an A-cut in the 400 IM with a time of 4:32.59, which also secured her a sixth place finish.

“We have some really high goals for the Big East meet, which I’m sure if everyone swims like they should, we can accomplish,” Kelley said.

In women’s relay competition, both the 200 and 400 freestyle relay teams placed fourth, finishing in 1:39.99 and 3:37.04, respectively.

For the women’s diving squad, senior Amy Sfara was second in the one-meter dive (214.85) and fourth in the three-meter (205.75). Julie Rhines was fourth in the one-meter (196.95) and fifth in the three-meter (183.40).

On the men’s side, the top finishers were distance freestylers Bryan Rivera and Ryan Costello and freshmen David Drysdale and Tom Mazzaferro, who placed ninth in the 400 IM (4:27.53). In the 1650 freestyle, Rivera finished ninth (16:56.03) with Costello following in tenth (17:07.86). Rivera also took eighth place in the 500 free (4:46.66). Drysdale was ninth in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:00.33 and eighth in the 200 breaststroke (2:14.16). Both the 200 and 400 freestyle relay teams, as well as the 200 and 400 medley relay teams, recorded seventh place finishes.

“The meet this weekend was against some pretty tough teams,” Kelley said. “Although everyone didn’t swim as great as they would have liked to, the end of the season is approaching and we’re all getting pretty psyched.”

On Jan. 30 at 6:00 p.m., the ‘Cats compete against Big East rival St. John’s at the Villanova Swim Complex.