The University of Rhode Island swim and dive team opened its season on Saturday, sweeping its tri-meet against Siena College and Stonehill College.
Rhode Island had a dominant day, winning 11 of the 16 events and scoring over 200 points for the first time since 2021. The Rams surpassed the mark in both results, taking down Stonehill 225-68 and host Siena 203-94.
“We’re always a little unsure how the first meet is going to go,” Rhode Island Head Coach Lilli Falconer-Deering said. “We started off with a bang on both sides and just kept that momentum going throughout the whole meet.”
URI opened the day with its first of three 1-2-3 sweeps, taking the one-meter dive led by fourth-year Olivia Winslow. Her score of 282.75 led the field by over 42 points.
Winslow went on to lead the Rams to another sweep in the three-meter dive later in the day; her results earned her Atlantic 10 Conference Performer of the Week honors.
In both events, first-year Emily Whiteneck and second-year Kelsey Kreuscher rounded out the podium finishes.
The Rams returned to the top in the third event, as third-year Cate Carboni took her first career win in the 1,000-yard freestyle by nearly six seconds.
First-year Molly Beckwith joined Whiteneck with a strong collegiate debut, continuing Carboni’s momentum with a 200-yard freestyle win. Beckwith took her second event in the 100-yard butterfly, being the only swimmer to finish in under a minute.
“They stepped up and rose to the challenge,” Deering said. “The big thing for us is always to remind them that having fun and enjoying the process is part of doing well.”
Two other first-year swimmers found a way to put up points with top finishes. Maddy Deeney managed to take the 200-yard breaststroke, while Chloe Robinson contributed to the top team in the 200-yard freestyle relay.
Amid all the new names, third-year Julianna Tyler delivered a veteran performance with two event wins. As the only active swimmer holding an individual program record, she took her record race with a win in the 200-yard butterfly.
“She’s definitely one of those people I know I can always trust to get done what she needs to get done,” Deering said. “Julianna’s always been a steady, consistent performer for us.”
Tyler ended her day in front in the second-to-last event, leading Rhode Island to its third 1-2-3 finish in the 400-yard individual medley.
A pair of second-year swimmers rounded out the winners for the Rams: Emma Raser took the 200-yard backstroke, and Mary McCormick won the 500-yard freestyle. Raser’s win in the 11th event started a string of six event wins to close out the meet for URI.
“I tried to not set too many high expectations,” Deering said. “I thought overall our performances were really solid. It definitely gives us a good starting point for what we need to work on and where we want to go for the rest of the year.”
Last season saw Rhode Island finish 4-5, placing 10th of 11 teams in the A-10 Championship. With the departure of the University of Massachusetts, URI was picked to place ninth out of 10 teams. Already with half of last year’s wins, the Rams hope to see continued early strong results.
“When we got back in September, we told the team that we were going to try to hit the ground running a little bit quicker than we normally do,” Deering said. “We’ve been able to challenge them in different ways and prepare a little bit more on the front end of things.”
After starting on the road, Rhode Island takes to the Tootell Aquatic Center for the first time this season to face Northeastern University on Saturday at noon.
“They’re definitely going to be a little bit more of a competition for us,” Deering said. “Hopefully, we can close the gap on the points score from where we were last year; that’s always the goal.”
Historically, the Rams are 2-12 all-time against the Huskies. Last year, URI fell by 45 points, a vast improvement from its 168-point loss in the prior tri-meet in 2022. Rhode Island will be looking for its first win against Northeastern since 1983.
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