The John Carroll Swimming and Diving teams are on a roll and cannot be stopped. With two meets this weekend, the Blue and Gold finished with two dominant Ohio Athletic Conference wins against Baldwin Wallace University on Jan. 27 and Wilmington College on Jan 28. 

Starting the weekend off in Berea, OH, both teams defeated the Yellow Jackets by scores of 133-63 (Men’s) and 157-45 (Women’s). 

The Men’s team won every event except one against the cross town rivals as they earned their tenth straight victory over this opponent. The Women’s team finalized their 17th consecutive victory against Baldwin Wallace as they won all but one event. 

While the entire team boasted personal successes, Jonathan Simoes ‘23 set the pool record in the 200 Backstroke by three seconds as he took home first place in that event (1:55.51). 

During this meet, the Blue and Gold mixed up the relay teams as they combined the Men’s and Women’s team to create a power group of swimmers. 

For the 200 Medley Relay Liam McDonnell ‘23, Jonah Venos ‘23, Allie Geletka ‘25 and Mairin Dalziel ‘26 ended with a mark of 1:42.94 to earn them a first place spot on the leaderboard. The mixed relay teams continued to prove successful as Dalziel, Rachel Halapchuk ‘23, Michael Heller ‘23 and Owen Holm ‘26 finished with a time of 1:33.87 in the 200 Freestyle Relay. 

A quick turnaround and the teams were back in action on Saturday at Johnson Natatorium where the squads celebrated the 17 seniors on the team. 

“The seniors play a huge role in this team,” expressed Dalziel. “You can tell that they really care about the team as a whole and because of this the rest of the team wanted it to be a really special day for them. We all made sure that we were cheering for them and made sure that they knew how much we appreciate everything that they have done for this team over the last four years.”

The Men’s team won every single event against the Quakers, while the Women won all but one as the final scores were 163-42 and 162-43, respectively. 

“It was an incredible feeling to win on senior day and I think it was very special for all the seniors to be able to win on their home soil one last time and feel the energy we have together,” stated Olivia Goodman ‘26. “All of the seniors work very hard both in and out of the pool to make it happen. I feel like we were able to honor them by putting all we had into the meets this weekend and showing that they are leaving the team with a very positive impact.”

All of the Blue Streak swimmers and divers earned individual victories as JCU swept the top three placements in almost every event. 

Goodman continued her successful freshman campaign as she took home first in the 200 Freestyle (2:05.41) and third in the 50 Freestyle (26.81) against Wilmington. 

“These swimmers are like my family and having them makes all of the hard work worth it,” stated Goodman. “The coaching staff is also amazing in the way they truly care about us. Coach Tanner and Coach Ian are very supportive both in and out of the pool, between hyping us up while swimming in practice and meets, to making sure we are keeping our grades and mental health in check. My teammates and the coaches have made this transition so smooth and allowed for us to be able to be the best we can be.”

The Blue and Gold will be back in action on Friday, Feb. 10 as they head to Columbus, OH to compete in the OSU Winter Invite before looking to make their way to the OAC Championships. 

“There were a lot of good races at both of the meets this weekend which helped the team’s confidence,” said Dalziel. “I think it is what the team needed going into OACs as we try to win for the seventh year in a row. All of the hard work we put in is going to pay off.”