Women’s Swimming and Diving: Huskies prepare for Bucknell Invitational

The UConn swimming and diving team (3-2) will travel to Bucknell University this weekend to compete against six other programs at the Bucknell Invitational. They will compete against Bucknell, Seton Hall, Delaware, UMBC, Fordham and Davidson in a three-day event on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Bucknell Athletics will stream the invitational tournament live on YouTube.

After a commanding home win against Rhode Island, the Huskies have a lot of momentum this week. They broke pool records in the 400 medley relay with freshmen Stella McCardie, Sydney Perkins and Jessica Sheng and senior captain Maggie Donlevy. Junior Lexi Martino set a record time in the 400-yard individual medley and sophomore Bella Hoffman set a record time in the 200-yard backstroke. After these impressive performances, the Huskies now want to maintain their high level of competition and are facing new challenges.

This time there are some new competitors compared to last year, including Seton Hall, Delaware and UMBC. Last year, UConn dominated the weekend, finishing with 1,572.5 total points. Donlevy and Hoffman had strong performances last year, both setting personal bests in the 100-yard backstroke and Donlevy was on the winning 400-yard medley relay team. The diving team was also dominant, winning the three-meter jump, with senior Julia Pioso taking second place in addition to her first-place finish in the one-meter jump. However, this year’s team is not the same, with returning members taking on larger roles following the departure of key executives. There are also promising young talents on the roster, with new faces catching the eye early on.

As the host team, Bucknell is off to a strong start to the weekend with a dominant 3-1 win before a tough loss to Navy this weekend. They should be eager to bounce back at home, especially after finishing second to the Huskies last year. Another important aspect is Seton Hall’s presence as a member of the Big East team. UConn has a matchup with Seton Hall later in January, so this weekend could serve as an important preview of their meeting again.

Otherwise, this meeting is an opportunity to set an example and provide important impulses over the course of the season. For the Huskies, another strong performance could be the foundation for success as they prepare for the challenges ahead in the second half of their schedule.