Pittsburgh, Pa. – The Duquesne University swimming team opened its 2025–26 season on Saturday, competing at the Pitt Relays against the host Panthers and Carnegie Mellon.

The 200-yard medley relay opened the action on Saturday, as the team of sophomores Sierra Snow and Jess Burns, along with freshmen Kira Schrecongost and Lucy Backus, placed fourth with a time of 1:47.07. Close behind, the quartet of sophomore Ashley Freel, junior Sydney Severini, and sophomores Rachel Howard and Kaitlyn Connors took fifth, finishing in 1:48.05.

In the 500-yard freestyle relay, the Dukes placed two teams in the top five. The quartet of Backus, Connors, junior Lexi Sundgren, and Snow finished fourth with a time of 4:39.33, while senior Katie Simpson, Howard, junior Julia Sobun, and Freel followed in fifth at 4:44.49. The 3x100 butterfly relay was next, with Howard, Schrecongost, and Freel combining for a fourth-place finish in 2:54.20.

The Dukes brought home a bronze in the 3x100 breaststroke relay, as the team of Burns, sophomore Surrena Luna, and Severini touched the wall in 3:20.10. Duquesne added a fifth-place finish in the same event from Schrecongost, Snow, and Freel, who finished in 3:29.86. Later in the afternoon, Snow, freshman Norah Kotnik, and Freel took fifth in the 3x100 backstroke relay with a time of 2:51.11. The 200 yard freestyle wrapped up competition with Connors, freshman Emily Kyre, Howard, and freshman Lucy Backus touching the wall at 1:37.01 to be tabbed fourth.

QUOTABLE
"This meet was a great opportunity to test our resiliency," head coach David Sheets said. "Most of the swimmers did all of the relays, so being able to get up and race back-to-back-to-back through seven events on short rest was a challenge. The one thing we stressed before the meet was being able to put it all out there regardless of how they felt as the meet progressed. I think the ladies did that. We also got to get a nice glimpse of our freshmen outside of a practice environment and see how they would respond. Overall, we are in a good place, we will keep working hard, focus on getting better, and continue to focus on building a great team environment."

UP NEXT
The Duquesne swimming and diving team will be back in action on Friday, Oct. 17 and Saturday, Oct. 18 when it travels to Hampton, Va. to compete at the Richmond Duals.

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