Austin, TX. – Senior
Sydney Severini and sophomore
Sierra Snow of the Duquesne University swimming and diving team traveled to Austin, Texas, over the weekend to compete in the Toyota U.S. Open Championships at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swim Center.
Snow kicked off the meet on Friday night in the 100-yard backstroke, recording a 1:03.78 in the prelims to place 26th before improving to 22nd in the finals with a 1:03.73. She carried that momentum into Saturday's 200-yard backstroke, turning in a strong 2:17.86 in prelims and then surging to a ninth-place finish in the finals with an impressive 2:14.07. That finals time not only marked a personal best but also secured her qualification for nationals later this coming year.
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"I was extremely proud of the way Sev and Sierra handled the environment of the U.S. Open," head coach
David Sheets said. "This was the first time either of them competed at a meet of this magnitude and both handled it extremely well. Sierra had a solid 100 back on Friday with both her prelim and final swims. On Saturday night she had a fantastic 200 back in the finals to finish 9th, swim a personal best by over 1.5 seconds and qualify for summer nationals."
Severini jumped into action on Saturday in the 200-yard breaststroke, turning in a morning time of 2:37.55 that shattered Miriam McGeath's 14-year-old LCM team record and secured her spot in the evening finals. Returning to the pool that night, she wrapped up the event with a strong 21st-place finish, stopping the clock at 2:38.04.
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"Sev had a solid time trial on Friday in the 100 breaststroke," Sheets continued. "She used that opportunity to prepare for the 200 breaststroke on Saturday. On Saturday, she executed a great race in the morning (2:37.55), breaking Miriam McGeath's 14-year-old LCM team record and qualifying for the finals, finishing 21st later that night."
UP NEXT
Duquesne returns to action on Thursday, Dec. 11 through Saturday, Dec. 13 when it travels to Indianapolis, Ind., to compete in the USA Junior Nationals.
