FORT MYERS, Fla. — The Ave Maria Swim team competed in their final home swim meet Friday, competing in a double dual against Life and St. Thomas. Ave Maria dropped both meets but posted some good swims throughout the day.
The men had two top three individual finishers and one top three relay finish. Sam Pilkington had the highest placement for the Gyrene men, finishing second in the 100 yard breaststroke with a time of 59.97. Lucas Thomaz was the other top three finisher, placing third in the 100 yard butterfly with a time of 55.47.
In the relays, the Gyrene A team placed third in the 200 yard freestyle relay with a time of 1:31.28.
The Gyrene men had three season bests and one personal best in the double dual. Thomas Austin seat a season high in the 50 yard freestyle with a time of 24.30. Frankie Salvi had the biggest improvement in 1000 yard freestyle with a time of 11:20.06, beating his previous best by over two seconds. Justin Blaine also set a season high in the 50 yard backstroke with a time of 28.58.
Nathan Ramirez set the last season high and the lone personal best for the Gyrene men, clocking in at 53.83 in the 100 yard freestyle.
At the end of the double dual, the Gyrene men posted a score of 424.5, with Life and St. Thomas at 445.6 and 538.6, respectively.
The Gyrene women had seven top three individual finishes and one top three relay finish.
Six of the seven top three spots for Ave Maria were third place finishes. Delaney Weisbruch claimed third in the 200 yard breaststroke, 200 yard individual medley, and the 200 yard butterfly. Maryanna Matista placed third in the 200 yard freestyle and the 100 yard butterfly. The last third place finisher for the Gyrenes was Gabby Darakchieva in the 200 yard backstroke.
Darakchieva also had the lone win for any Ave Maria swimmer Friday, winning the 100 yard backstroke with a time of 1:01.78.
In the relays, the Ave Maria A team placed third in the 200 yard medley with a time of 1:56.85.
There was only one personal best for the Gyrene women in the meet, with Maddie Lasnoski finishing the 50 yard freestyle in 27.37, beating her previous best by almost a second.
The women posted a final score of 382.2 with Life and St. Thomas at 413.6 and 495.5, respectively.
The double dual wraps the home season for the Ave Maria Swim team. In their fourth season, the Gyrenes hosted four meets, three duals and one double dual. It is the first year they have ever hosted more than one meet in a season.
The Gyrenes have one more dual meet before the start of championship season. Ave Maria heads east to Fort Pierce January 24 to take on Indian River State College. It is the first time since AMU's inaugural season that they will meet IRSC and the first ever dual meet between the Gyrenes and the Pioneers.
