CHICAGO – It was a strong day three at the 2024 University Athletic Association Swimming and Diving Championships for the University of Rochester women's team, as 12 individuals and two relays scored top-24 positions during Friday events at the University of Chicago's Ratner Athletics Center.
 
The fourteen scorers boosted the Rochester team scoring total up to 383.50 points, ranking seventh among the eight schools in the event with one day of competition remaining.
 
Sophomore Deniz Yardimci was the top performer of the day, securing Rochester's lone individual top-10 of the meet so far, ranking 10th in the 100 backstroke. In the 'B' final she swam a time of 57.22 seconds, trimming down her preliminary time by over half a second.
 
Yardimci's backstroke success continued into the 200 medley relay which closed out the days events. In leading off, the sophomore broke the school record in the 50 backstroke with a split time of 26.32 seconds, breaking the previous UR mark of 26.48 seconds set in 2020 by Erica Hughes.
 
The leadoff time helped Rochester's squad post a time of 1:46.80 in the event, finishing seventh. Joining Yardimci on the 'A' relay was Gloria Ng, Sophia Dmytruk and Jessica Spahn. The 'B' group of Marissa Carlson, Ariana Pasquella, Caelan Clayton and Morgan Edstrom finished in 1:50.15, scoring a 14th place result.
 
Additionally, Yardimci also swam in a Friday final in the 100 butterfly where she placed tied for 19th with a finals time of 57.83 seconds. Dmytruk added a 24th place finish in the 'C' final by swimming a 58.36 second time.
 
Rochester had three individual scorers in the 100 breaststroke. Ng finished 11th in 1:05.65 while Pasquella touched in 1:06.13, good for 13th representing UR in the 'B' final. Hannah Gentile was 21st in 1:11.55, swimming in the 'C' final heat.
 
First-year Katherine Hegblom ended 19th in the 400 IM during the evening swims, clocking in with a time of 4:37.18, over four seconds quicker than her prelim time from earlier in the day.
 
Rochester's other individual scorer in a swim event on Friday was Leah Tang who ranked 22nd in the 100 backstroke with a 58.92 second time during the finals.
 
UR divers added several more points to the team scorer with solid performances on the 3-meter board. First-year Zuzu Bailey finished the highest among the Yellowjackets in 15th place, scoring 365.35 points on her 11-dive list.
 
Lizzie Budde ended 19th with a 361.90 score. Marlena Vieira finished 21st, scoring 335.05 points over the competition and Julia Sides ended 24th after obtaining 319.20 points across her 11 dives.
 
Rochester's top qualifiers in the morning were Pasquella and Yardimci who both swam the 11th fastest time during the preliminaries in their respective events. Pasquella touched the wall in 1:06.03 during the 100 breaststroke while Yardimici's top result came in the 100 backstroke where she clocked in at 57.95 seconds.
 
Joining Pasquella and Yardimici in the 'B' finals was Ng who ended the morning session 12th fastest in the 100 breaststroke.
 
Gentile made it three UR swimmers in the finals during the breaststroke, as she ranked 20th in 1:12.60, booking a lane in the 'C' final. Tang also qualified for the 'C' final during the 100 backstroke, touching the wall in 59.34 seconds, good for the 23rd seed.
 
Yardimci also qualified for the 'C' final in the 100 butterfly, swimming a prelim time of 58.44 seconds. Teammate Dmytruk joined her in that race after ranking 21st in the morning at 58.30 seconds.
 
Hegblom qualified 23rd in the 400 IM after posting a preliminary time of 4:41.37 during her morning swim.
 
During the 200 medley relay prelims, Rochester's 'A' lineup featured Sophie Sweet, Ng, Clayton and Adele Hellstrom. That group posted a time of 1:51.46, ranking as the 12th fastest in the morning heats.
 
In the other preliminary swimming event on Friday, Simone Lin paced the Yellowjackets in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:59.39, placing 34th.
 
With three days now concluded, only one day of competition remains at the UAA Championships. The fourth day of events starts with prelims on Saturday at 10 am central time.