Denver Swim and Dive had an eventful week this week, as Denver Men’s Swim and Dive defeated Air Force 183-114 to open their Dual season, followed up by a win over Wyoming at El Pomar Natatorium.

On Tuesday, at Air Force, the men’s team saw victories from seven different student athletes. Sophomore Cameron Auchinachie (Binghamton, N.Y.) swept the freestyle sprints with times of 20.34 in the 50 free and 26.61 in the 100 free. Juniors Colin Gilbert (Kamloops, B.C.) and Neil Wachtler (Waco, Texas) both had multiple individual event wins. Gilbert took first in both of 1000 free, clocking in at 9:49.05, and the 500 free, with a tie of 4:41.07. Wachtler took first in the backstroke events, winning the 100 back in 50.09 and the 200 back in 1:52.70.

In the group events, the Pioneers took first in the 200 medley thanks to Wachtler, sophomore Cy Jager (Moscow, Idaho), sophomore Adriel Sanes (Rosharon, Texas) and Auchinachie. They finished with a time of 1:32.40.

Five Pioneers got a first time win including junior Hugo Sykes’s (Weston, Conn.) coming in first in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:42.26, as well as sophomore Anthony Nosack (Beaverton, Ore.) in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 57.74, junior Alex Morgan (Dyer, Ind.) in the 1-meter dive with a score of 261.38 and freshman David Mihalic (Ljubljana, Slovenia) in the 200 IM in 1:56.01.

On Saturday, the men’s and women’s programs swept Wyoming in dual meets at El Pomar Natatorium. The men’s team improved to 2-0 in duals this season while the women improved to 4-1 for the season.
The meet started off on a great note for the Pioneers as redshirt-senior Heidi Bradley (Victoria, B.C.), junior Kylie Cronin (Marblehead, Mass.), freshman Brandi Vu (Longmont, Colo.) and senior Lauren Moden (Parker, Colo.) took first in the 400 medley relay, combining for a time of 3:45.45 to win the race with a solid 5.45 second lead on Wyoming. The men’s 400 medley took a comfortable victory with a 2.76 second lead thanks to Wachtler, Nosack, Sanes and Aunchinachie finished with a time of 3:20.24.
Gilbert took first again in the 1000 free with a time of 9:42.19, followed by fellow junior Jesse Haraden (Ballston Spa, N.Y.) with a time of 9:43.93.

In the 100 back, Bradley took first with a strong swim, finishing with a time of 55.98. On the men’s side, Wachtler took his second win of the meet with a time of 50.09.

Vu finished the 100 breast with a time of 1:03.69 to take her second victory of the meet and earn the women’s team their second-consecutive event victory.

Denver swept the top two sports on the women’s side in the 200 fly thanks to Cronin and junior Josie Valette (Boulder, Colo.). Cronin touched first in 2:05.23, followed by Valette, who finished in 2:07.78. On the men’s side, Denver swept the top three spots, led by senior Kyle Ewoldt (Gilbert, Ariz.) in 1:51.39, followed by fellow senior Graham Walker (Nairobi, Kenya) in 1:52.97 and Mihalic in 1:53.04.

Denver’s 200 free relays both took wins. Bradley, Moden, Valette and Leckie took first in the women’s race with a time of 1:33.37. On the men’s team, Aunchinachie, Gainer, Sanes and Sykes took first with a time of 1:21.43.

Both the men’s and women’s teams will go to Iowa City for the weekend of Nov. 2 to face off against Iowa and Michigan.