Denver’s swimming and diving team began their season with successful results after their first dual meets of the 2015-16 season.
On Oct. 16, the men headed to Laramie, Wyoming to compete against the University of Wyoming where the Pioneers won nine out of 15 events.
Meanwhile, in Fort Collins, Colorado, the women defeated Colorado State University in 13 out of 16 events. On the following day, Oct. 17, the women topped the University of Nebraska- Omaha in seven out of ten events hosted by the Pios at El Pomar Natatorium.
The successful nine events for the men’s swim and dive included a 400 yard relay (3:04.74) swam by junior Scott Bergstrom (White Salmon, Washington), sophomore Ray Bornman (Mackay, Australia), sophomore Tim Cottam (Sydney, Australia) and redshirt junior Kyle Robrock (Savage, Minnesota).
Individuals from the relay team produced successful results in other events, including Bornman who won the 50 meter back-strong (23.54). Conference Swimmer-of-the-Week for the Summit League, Robrock, won the 50 yard fly (22.52), 100 yard individual medley (IM) (51.33) and the 100 yard free-style (46.16).
Commenting on the team’s preparation for the season, Robrock said, “The past few weeks have been pretty rough training-wise. With nine two-hour practices and three lift workouts per week, I think our team is prepared for whatever lies ahead of us [this season].”
In the meets against the Colorado State Rams and Omaha Mavericks, the women Pios produced favoring results and had outstanding performances with their relays and individual events.
“[The team] is the best it has been in the three years [I] have been on the team. Every day we are challenging each other in test sets, in the weight room and in the classroom,” Robrock said. Robrock adds that the goal for the 2016 season is to do well in competitions and to make swimming a better known sport for the University.
Alongside Robrock, sophomore Morgan McCormick (Golden, Colorado) was named CollegeSwimming.com Conference Swimmer-of-the-Week for the Summit League.
McCormick won the 400 medley relay (3:48.97) against the Rams with sophomore Hedi Bradley (Victoria, British Columbia), junior Johanna Roas (Munich, Germany) and junior Amanda Sanders (Superior, Colorado). McCormick placed first, individually, in the 200 yard back (200.65) and the 100 yard IM (58.51). Against the Mavericks, McCormick finished first in the 100 yard backstroke (56.55) as well as the 200 medley relay (1:44.52) with teammates Roas, Sanders, and senior Zoe Huddleston (Rothschild, Wisconsin).
Regarding Denver’s first Big-Ten dual meet beginning Dec. 4 Robrock is confident the Pios could potentially win the invite against the University of Iowa, University of Notre Dame and the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee.
Both Denver’s men’s and women’s teams finished first in a dual meet in Lawrence, Kansas against the University of Kansas and Missouri State University on Oct. 23. The following weekend, the men will travel to the University of California- Santa Cruz on Nov. 6 and the women are set to host the Air Force Academy on Nov. 7 at 12 p.m. in El Pomar Natatorium.
