The women’s swimming and diving team is 7-2 at this point in the season and currently riding a four-game winning streak. The Catamounts defeated Siena, Maine, Central Connecticut State and Bryant.
Against Siena, sophomore Ilsa Feierabend broke the pool record in the 200-yard backstroke, winning both the 100 and 200-yard distances to lead the Catamounts past Siena, 176-119.
Vermont finished first in eight events and swept the diving competition.
Vermont’s squad of rookies – the relay team of Christa Weaver, Andie Blaser, Diane Brown and Hayley Weik – set a record, breaking the UVM first-year mark in the 200 freestyle by two seconds with a time of 1:39.09.
“Today was a great team win. All of our ladies stepped up in a big way,” head coach Gerry Cournover said after the win against America East rival, Maine.
Last week, Weaver was named America East Female Swimmer of the Week for the second time. She won five individual races and played a part in two relay victories to lead UVM to a 2-0 record over the weekend against Central Connecticut State.
On Sunday, Weaver followed up with a sweep of the freestyle races against Bryant, winning the 50-yard, 100-yard and 200-yard races. She also swam a leg for the 400-yard relay squad as it won for the second consecutive day.
After Vermont’s 146.5-115.5 win over Bryant, Weaver pushed her win total to 16 races.
Senior Kailey Gardner displayed her consistency when she took first place in both the 500 and 1,000 freestyle to extend her streak of winning at least one individual event to 19 straight season meets.
Gardner led a 1-2-3 finish in the 1,000 freestyle, winning the race with a new pool mark of 10:34.32. First-year Carah McClure and junior Taylor Slone placed second and third to complete the UVM sweep.
Gardner also set a pool record in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:05.31 and earned a win in the 200 Individual Medley. She extended her streak to 21 straight regular season meets.
Feierabend won the 200-yard backstroke for the fourth straight time at 2:07.35. Chelsea Krisanda won the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 59:80 and was the only competitor in the field to post a time under one minute.
“Every year our goal is to compete at the highest level we can,” Cournover said in a preseason interview with CatamounTV.
Vermont will play Dartmouth on Nov. 28 at 6 p.m. On Nov. 30, the swimming and diving team will compete in the Central Connecticut State Invitational.
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