NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Vanderbilt swimming faces it final test in advance of its annual midseason meet when the Commodores compete against host Queens and Rutgers in a two-day meet this weekend. The competition will begin Friday at 3 p.m. CT at the Levine Aquatic Center and continue at 10 a.m. Saturday.
“At this point of the season, we’ve had some opportunities to race and had a good deal of training so we’re trying to bring all those skills that we've been working on together and put them into practice in race form,” head coach Jeremy Organ said. “With those things in mind, I want to see us trying to be a little sharper and hopefully have better execution. I feel like we should see things start to come together a little more in our race form.”
The weekend will provide a homecoming for Charlotte, North Carolina, native Aubrey Hull, who enters the meet with the Dores’ fastest times in the 100 and 200 backstroke while also ranking among the top five on the team in the 50 and 100 freestyle. Shayna Elgart—a freshman from Raleigh—is also returning to the Tar Heel State already in the top five on Vandy’s season performer list in four different events: the 200 freestyle, 100 and 200 back, and 100 butterfly.
Another newcomer, Sophie Pham, has made an immediate impact as well, winning her first two races at the collegiate level last time out when the Commodores competed at the Dual-A-Pool-Ooza Invitational, posting the team’s best mark in the 100 fly while also standing third in the 50 free and 100 back. No one leads Vanderbilt in more individual events entering the weekend than freshman Sydney Green, who has the top times on the squad in the 200, 500 and 1,000 freestyle along with the 400 individual medley.
Melissa Cowen paces the Dores in the 100 and 200 breaststroke, with Elle Noecker recording the team’s fastest time in the 200 individual medley. Freshmen Matilda White and Brooke Miller lead Vandy in the 50 and 100 free, respectively.
While the Commodores have split a pair of dual meets with Queens—with the last meeting coming in Charlotte in 2022—they have never faced the Scarlet Knights.