University of South Australia (UniSA) and Adelaide University (AU) came together to battle it out in the pool. Both Universities have their respected swimming clubs and due to Covid restrictions; the event had to be capped at 40 people maximum. UniSA had 14 representatives (6 females and 8 males) whereas, AU had 11 swimmers (7 females and 4 males).
The first race started at 8:30 am at Pridham Hall. There were 6 individual events and 1 relay to get through before the pool opened up to the public. The first event was the 50m Freestyle where we saw 12 swimmers competing. Ethan Crook (UniSA) took out the Men's 18-24-year-old in a time of 25.78 Nick Tam from AU wasn't able to keep up with Ethan finishing the race with 27.28 to gain AU 2nd place, Jack finished up in 3rd place for UniSA coming in at 28.53. The AU girls started off the day strong finishing up 1st and 2nd in the 50m Freestyle with AUSC President; Chelsea Robinson claiming gold in a time of 29.88 and Eli Teo 2nd with 32.12. Dominating start from UniSA boys and AU girls. After event 1, AU girls lead with 37 points to UniSA 31 points, whereas, the UniSA boys had a flying start with 105 points to AU 37 points.
Things get a little bit more complicated with event 2: 25m BBB (Backstroke, Breaststroke, or Butterfly). Entries were dependant on times rather than on stroke. Nick Tam of AU took 1st place in the Men's 18-24 Butterfly (13.03) with Gary Lai of UniSA taking silver in 14.71. This was also the time for Adila to shine!! Adila Abdul Halim swam the Women's 25-29-year-old 25m Breaststroke in 25.86 to take the gold home for AU with her teammate Elise Toyer taking the gold in the Women's 18-24-year-old 25m Butterfly!! What a dominating start from the AU girls!
Event 3 saw only 4 entries and unfortunately, AU had to withdraw a swimmer due to other commitments. James Yip has been a dominant breaststroke in the state where he represented AU at Uni Nationals in the past. James has decided to give the 100m Freestyle a go today cracking out a whipper time of 59.44 to gain AU the 20 points followed up with Daniel Pearce and Jordie Parker both representing the blue caps.
It got a little messy again in the 50m BBB. Nick decided to threaten Alvin Fu's 50m Backstroke record but just missed it by 1.2s, touching in with a time of 31.75. Alvin Fu also had the same idea as Nick and swam 50m Butterfly to try and knock Nick off the club record but unfortunately, Alvin missed the record by 1.5s, however, Ethan Crook came in charging and didn't take a single breath in the 50m Butterfly to come and touch the wall in 28.44, knocking Nick Tam's previous record of 28.69. The power of keeping your head down and focus on your own race worked wonders for Ethan Crook. Eli Teo and Jay Laginestra both swam the 50m Butterfly and both touching the wall with the same time of 34.07. It was a "flying" race for Eli who was trying to beat Andrew Truong. It was another close finish with Andrew touching the wall in 33.57. At the conclusion of event 4 (50m BBB), we have AU girls on 214 points to UniSA on 162, whereas, the guys, UniSA leading on 290 points to AU boys on 197 points. There are only 41 points in between the 2 Universities at this stage. The shield is still up for grabs for either University. It's a hot battle in the pool.
Event 5 was the 100m individual Medley (IM) which is a crowd favorite. There's something about swimming 1 (short) lap of every stroke that appeals to the majority. Heat 2 was a tight race with an even field of University representatives; Jay Laginestra (UniSA), Chelsea Robinson (AU, Andrew Truong (UniSA), and Eli Teo (AU) went head to head for the title of the best all-rounder. Andrew took off in his main stroke (Butterfly) with Chelsea trailing closely behind followed by Jay and Eli. Andrew could see Chelsea in the corner of his eye and had to ensure social distance was adhered to as he knows Chelsea will be hot on his tail on the Breaststroke leg (Chelsea's main stroke and Andrew's weak stroke). Andrew was able to hold Chelsea off touching the wall in 1:14.01 to Chelsea's 1:17.03. Both swimmers took the gold for their respected age and gender. Eli Teo had an outstanding swim where she finished a time faster than Gary Lai from heat 1... Gary may or may not have had a big night the previous night. Eli from AU touched in 1:23.35 to Gary's (UniSA) 1:23.47. Eli benefitted from being in the after heat with her teammate Chelsea pushing her in every stroke.
The last individual event is up next with the 25m Freestyle. This saw Fleur Woodhouse (UniSA) swimming a PB of 24.69 but unfortunately, this wasn't enough for the speedy Alina Abdul Halim cracking out a 17.40 to claim gold for her age and gender. Allana Sagubo from AU stepped up for the AU girls taking the cookies home in 15.63 with Jordie Parker from UniSA taking 2nd in 16.18.
Let's take a look at the point score at the conclusion of the individual events.
Men's UniSA 434 vs AU 231 Women's AU 303 vs UniSA 263 Combined UniSA 697 vs AU 534
At this point, it seems like UniSA has taken the title out but there is still a relay event to go. 4x25m Freestyle relay saw 2 heats and a disqualification. Heat 1 had UniSA B taking it out in a cracking time of 57.72. UniSA A was in heat 2 but unfortunately, their 59.47 time didn't stick as Ethan Crook jumped the gun too early and false-started costing UniSA points.
The final combined score was UniSA 767 to AU 628. UniSA has taken the inaugural "Duel in the Pool" Shield. It was a great day of racing from the 2 Universities and on behalf of UniSA and UniSA Swimming Club, we like to thank Adelaide University and Adelaide University Swimming Club for coming out and going head to head against UniSA at Pridham Hall on a Sunday morning. It was great to see some socializing between the 2 Universities and friendships created. AU also had a photographer present at the meet. We are excited to view the amazing photos that were taken.
Results are attached below with updated club records here.
