Denver men’s swim team completed a perfect weekend of duals, recording wins against University of Las Vegas (UNLV) and UC Santa Barbara, scoring 190 against UNLV’s 85, and 141 against UC Santa Barbara’s 130. The women’s squad lost their two duals but kept the scores tight.

In the first day of duals, the men and women claimed wins in the 400 medley relay. On the women’s side, redshirt-senior Heidi Bradley (Victoria, B.C.), freshman Brandi Vu (Longmont, Colo.), junior Josie Valette (Boulder, Colo.) and senior Lauren Moden (Parker, Colo.) combined for 3:45.93 to claim their third win of the season. Junior Neil Wachtler (Waco, Texas), sophomore Cy Jager (Moscow, Idaho), sophomore Adriel Sanes (Rosharon, Texas) and Cameron Auchinachie (Binghamton, N.Y.) finished in 3:19.28, claiming first place for the second time this year.

In the 300 free, senior Annelyse Tullier (Dallas, Texas) took second place with a time of 2:55.13. She was followed by Moden, who finished second in the 100 IM in 58.31. Junior Kylie Cronin (Marblehead, Mass.) finished third in the 50 fly with a time of 25.81. Vu took a second place finish in the 50 breaststroke, touching in 29.66.

The men took three of the top five spots in the men’s 200 IM thanks to freshman David Mihalic (Ljubljana, Slovenia), freshman Patrick Groters (Santa Cruz, Aruba) and freshman Blayze Jessen (Denver.) swept third, fourth and fifth, clocking in at 1:54.12, 1:54.19, and 1:54.98, respectively. The men’s team continued their dominance with a win in the 50 back from Wachter, touching at 22.98. He was followed by junior Peter Webster (Odense, Denmark), and Sanes, who finished in the top two spots in the 50 fly with times of 22.48 and 22.60.

In the last relay that night, junior Hugo Sykes (Weston, Conn.), Auchinachie, junior Colin Gilbert (Kamloops, B.C.) and senior Kyle Ewoldt (Gilbert, Ariz.) finished first in the men’s 800 relay, touching in 6:42.82. Jager finished the night strong for the men’s side as he took first place in the 50 breast with a time of 25.83.

On the second day of duals, the men’s team started strong with another relay win behind Wachtler, Jager, Webster and Auchinachie. The foursome finished first in the 200 medley with a time of 1.29.97, marking their third win in this event this season. The 400 free relay team comprised of Auchinachie, Sykes, Wachtler and Groters took first with a time of 2:59.17.

The men’s relay teams’ successes were followed by a string of wins by the Pioneers in individual events. Gilbert and junior Jesse Haraden (Ballston, Spa, N.Y.) started the Pioneers off in the 1000 free, touching in 9:27.76 and 9:35.24. Sykes finished second in the 200 free in 1:40.42, and Wachtler touched first in the 100 back in 49.23. Sanes touched in 57.22 in the 100 breast to take third for the Pioneers while Ewoldt took first place in the 200 fly with a time of 1:51.56. They were followed by Auchinachie and Sykes in the 100 free, touching in 44.27 and 45.49 respectively. Wachtler recorded his third win of the dual in the 200 back with a time of 1:49.34. He was joined by Groters, who touched third in 1:51.03. Sanes raced in both the 200 breast and the 100 fly, taking third in the 200 breast with a time of 2:04.81 and finishing first in 49.58 in the 100 fly. In his freshman season, Mihalic won his third IM in the 400 individual medley with a time of 3:58.11.

On the women’s side, the 200 medley team, led by Tullier, Vu, Valette and Moden, took first in the 200 medley with a time of 1:43.49. They were followed with several individual wins.

Bradley touched third in the 100 back with a time of 56.71. Her third was followed by a second place finish by Vu in the 100 breast with a time of 1:04.04. In the 200 fly, Cronin took second with a time of 2:03.87, followed by freshman McKayla Sanchez (Temecula, Calif.) who took fourth with a time of 2:06.57. Moden finished third in the 100 free, touching in 52.01. She was followed by Bradley, who took second in the 200 backstroke with a time of 2:02.88. Sophomore Charlotte Simon (Saint Remy, France) turned in the women’s first individual event win after touching first in the 200 breast in 2:18.94. Tullier took third in the 500 free with a time of 5:02.93, followed by second and third places by Cronin and Valette in the 100 fly in 56.10 and 56.65 respectively. In the final event for the women, sophomore Uma Knaven (Chapel Hill, N.C.) took second in the 400 IM with a time of 2:29.42.

Denver swim heads to Atlanta to take Georgia Tech in a two-day dual starting Jan. 25. They will return to El Pomar Natatorium on Feb. 2 to take on the Air Force in a sprint, while the dive team will head to the Air Force Academy to compete in the Air Force Diving Invite the same weekend.