OSU Swimming Hosts Arizona State to Open Season
October 02, 2015 | Women's Swimming
CORVALLIS, Ore. – The Oregon State swimming team opens its 2015-16 campaign this Saturday at Osborn Aquatic Center with a dual meet against Arizona State at 11 p.m. PT.
The Beavers' opening meet of the season will be their Dam Cancer meet, with the team holding a bake sale to raise money. The meet is also designated as their Orange meet, encouraging all fellow athletes to attend and support the swimming team.
“We had some good performances last week and I'm hoping that we'll be better in almost every event than we were last week,” Oregon State head coach Larry Liebowitz said. “In fact, I think that we will with a Pac-12 school coming in to town. This is the first time that Arizona State has ever been here. I think it's going to add some excitement, so we'll see some great racing.”
Last time out, the Oregon State swimming team held its Orange & Black meet, recording seven different record times for the annual intrasquad meet. The Orange squad edged the Black team, 122-119.
The Orange were led by captain Sammy Harrison, who broke meet records in victories in the 200 freestyle (1:53.46) and in the 500 freestyle (5:06.97). The senior capped an All-American season last year with a seventh place finish in the 1,650 (15:54.61) at the NCAA Championships, as well as a second-place finish at the Pac-12 Championships.
Other top performers from last weekend include senior Amani Amr, who won the 100 backstroke (59:33) and 200 backstroke (2:07.80), as well as freshman Megan Lam, who won the 100 butterfly (58.73), 200 individual medley (2:10.21) and the 200 butterfly (2:10.02) in her first collegiate action.
Arizona State finished seventh at the Pac-12 Championships last season with a total of 610 points. This season marks the Sun Devils' first season under the direction of head coach Bob Bowman, former USA national coach and longtime mentor to Olympian Michael Phelps.
“Arizona State has pretty much the same group that they had last year, but I'm sure their training has changed dramatically, so we'll see how they're responding to that,” Liebowitz said. “They're pretty good in the sprints, so they're going to give us some challenges there. I think Sammy will lead us in the distance events and that we'll do pretty well.”
Players Mentioned
