Lady Statesmen Swimmers Dive into the New Year with a Splash at Montevallo!

MONTEVALLO, Ala.- The Delta State Women’s Swimming and Diving Team commenced the New Year with a decisive 182-71 victory against the University of Montevallo on Saturday afternoon at the SAC Natatorium in Montevallo.
 
The Lady Statesmen triumphed in both relay events, with seven different individual swimmers securing a first-place finish. Freshman Zinna Nimander, along with juniors Pia Delkeskamp and Jessica Gannon, excelled by winning several individual events.
 
Nimander, Kaley Davis, and Ave Owens were part of both relay teams that clinched victory.
 
To kick off the meet, Nimander, Delkeskamp, Davis, and Owens started strong with a 1:47.70 time in the 200-yard medley relay. The team from Delta State comprising Olivia Murphy, Hannah Murray, Janne Bodemer, and Mikayla Kloth secured second place in this event.
 
Following the relay, Gannon won her first of two distance events, finishing the 1,000-yard freestyle in 10:49.54. Freshman Julia Maciak came in second, trailed by Emma Greene.
 
Nimander and Murphy were neck and neck in the 100-yard backstroke, but Nimander managed to outpace Murphy with a time of 59.06 seconds.
 
The Lady Statesmen took the top three positions in the 100-yard breaststroke, led by Delkeskamp who clocked in at 1:07.38. Murray finished second, followed closely by sophomore Hannah Jones.
 
Bodemer then joined the ranks of Lady Statesmen taking first place in the 200-yard butterfly with a commendable time of 2:17.69.
 
In the 50-yard freestyle, the trio of Nimander, Tristen Fant, and Davis dominated, securing the top three spots. Nimander claimed her second individual victory with a time of 25.01 seconds. Fant finished in second with 25.40 seconds and Davis followed with 26.35 seconds.
 
Following the 50-yard freestyle, the session continued with back-to-back top three finishers in the 100-yard freestyle. Murphy, Owens, and Fant secured the top three positions, with Murphy narrowly winning the event, edging out Owens by two hundredths of a second at 55.26 seconds.
 
Davis and Jordon Kloth occupied the top two positions in the 200-yard backstroke, with Davis emerging victorious at 2:12.72.
 
Murray and Delkeskamp achieved a first and second-place finish in the 200-yard breaststroke, with Murray securing the win at a time of 2:29.63.
 
In the 500-yard freestyle, Gannon completed her sweep in the distance events, finishing in first place with a time of 5:18.91.
 
In the last individual race of the afternoon, Delkeskamp secured her second first-place finish in the 200-yard individual medley, clocking in at 2:12.85.
 
To conclude the meet, the Delta State 200-yard freestyle relay team, consisting of Nimander, Davis, Owens, and Murphy, won the race with a time of 1:38.97.
 
The Lady Statesmen will return to the pool on Friday, Jan. 24, as they head to Baton Rouge, La., to compete against the Tigers of Louisiana State University. The event is scheduled to start at 10:00 a.m. (CDT).