Rice University
SMU
Swim Team Falls To No. 21 SMU Saturday, 152-136
10/31/2015 12:00:00 AM | Swimming & Diving
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HOUSTON -- The Rice sophomore duo of Alicia Caldwell and Kaitlyn Swinney both won two individual events, but No. 21 ranked SMU rallied on the final relay to slip away with a 152-136 dual meet win Saturday afternoon at Owls' Competition Pool.
Rice had already taken down nationally-ranked Miami-Fla. in a dual meet on the opening weekend of the season and was looking for another in its last outing before a big two-week break in the schedule. With Caldwell and Swinney both posting a pair of wins, the Owls claimed six-of-13 swim events. A possible seventh win in the day's 14th and final race, a 400-yard freestyle relay, would have secured another Rice upset.
Caldwell led-off the relay with a season- and C-USA-best 51.14 for her 100 to give the Blue & Gray a narrow lead, but SMU rallied over the next three stages to win the event by 2.59 seconds. The Mustangs won eight of the swim events and used all the points from springboard diving. Rice does not compete in diving events.
Where Caldwell went slightly faster in her 100 to start the relay (51.14) than she did in the 100-free itself (51.17), she still held-off a pair of SMU challengers to win the race. Earlier in the day the native of Sydney, Australia, won the 200-free with a steady 1:50.73 that was close to her conference-leading mark from last weekend.
Swinney was equally sound and solid in her two wins. She swam a 2:03.25 in the 200-backstroke to lead a 1-2-3 Rice finish with Shelly Patton (2:05.87) and Julie Litver (2:05.97). The sophomore from Fort Bend and Patton then went 1-2, respectively, in the 400-individual medley with times of 4:24.32 and 4:28.22. Swinney was in contention for winning a third individual event, the 100-backstroke, but Litver came up big on the outside lane to post the first win of her collegiate career with a season-best 57.97. Jaecey Parham placed third in the race (58.16) as the Owls piled-up the points with the top three spots.
The Blue & Gray in fact had three 1-2-3 finishes on the day. The Owl trio of Hanna Huston, Anniina Ala-Seppälä and Sydney Franzen claimed the top three respective spots in the rugged 1,000-freestyle. Huston returned to score for the team with a second place finish in the 500.
The Rice swimmers are back in action on November 19. The Owls compete at the University of Houston's annual Phill Hansel Invitational, a three-day multi-team meet across town at the UH Recreation and Wellness Center.
Players Mentioned
