Oct. 17, 2009
NORFOLK, Va. -- The Old Dominion men's and women's swimming and diving teams kicked off the season by sweeping the College of Charleston at the J.C. "Scrap" Chandler Pool Saturday afternoon. The Monarchs defeated the Cougars, 198-94, while the Lady Monarchs earned an 185-106 victory.
Newcomer Jason Brame (Lynchburg, Va.) gave the Monarchs their first of 10 individual victory timing in at 9:53.69 in the 1000 free.
A trio of Monarchs, senior Kristian Ramkvist (Bjarred, Sweden), sophomore Arni Arnason (Msfellsbaer, Iceland), and junior Steven Loccisano (Fredericksburg, Va.) took home a pair of victories in the season opening victory.
Ramkvist won the 100 breast as the only competitor to clock in under a minute with a time of 59.69. Later in the meet he won the 200 back. His time of 1:56.68 made him the only entry with a time under the two-minute mark. Arnason, meanwhile, swam to wins in the 50 free (21.23) andthe 200 breast (2:07.33). Loccisano earned a pair of wins in the freestyle events. He logged a time of 1:44.38 in the 200 free and 47.72 in the 100 free.
Other Monarchs to win their events included junior Mikael Ramkvist (Bjarred, Sweden) in the 100 back (55.22), senior Kevin Latimer (Newport News, Va.) in the 200 fly (1:59.06), the only swimmer in under two minutes, and senior Johan Lundberg (Fjaras, Sweden) in the 100 fly (52.95).
In the relays, the 400 medley relay team of Mikael Ramkvist, Arnason, Lundberg, and senior Chad Gangwer (Va. Beach, Va.) logged a time of 3:30.55 for the win.
Jessica Hubert (Newport News, Va.) made her Lady Monarch swimming debut to help her squad to victory in three events. She won the 100 back (1:01.43), 200 back (2:13.15), and 100 fly (59.08) as one of 10 individual event winners for the ODU women.
Senior Elizaveta Moiseeva (Moscow, Russia), sophomore Erla Haraldsdottir (Njardvik, Iceland), and senior Agata Nowak (Gorzow, Poland) all took home a pair of wins. Moisseva and Nowak led the way in the freestyle. Moiseeva captured first place times in the 200 free (1:57.62) and 500 free (5:15.53), while Nowak paced the Lady Monarchs in the sprints winning the 50 free (24.67) and 100 free (54.63). Haraldsdottir won both the breaststroke events as the top finisher in the 100 breast (1:07.22) and 200 breast (2:23.68).
Sophomore Maddie Stiles (Fairfax, Va.) also gave the Lady Monarchs another victory by claiming the 200 fly with her top time of 2:10.68.
In the relays, the 400 medley relay team of Hubert, Haraldsdottir, Nowak, and sophomore Emma Forbes (Peekskill, N.Y.) placed first with a time of 4:01.07.
In diving action, junior Kelsey Thompson (Chesapeake, Va.) won both boards. She was victorious in 1 meter with her score of 197.40, while recording a 212.05 on the 3 meter. Junior David Skorupa (Richmond, Va.) recorded the top score on the 3 meter with a 248.15.
The ODU swimming and diving teams return to action next Saturday when they travel to conference rival UNC-Wilmington.