Finally home in Moscow, the Idaho swim and dive team had an opportunity to make a statement about its season against Pac-12 opponent Oregon State Saturday in the University of Idaho Swim Center, and in a sense, it did.
Idaho forced a draw against Oregon State at 147.
The Vandals held the lead until the final event, the 40 freestyle relay. Oregon State took first and second, while Idaho trailed in third and fourth. The crowd at the Swim Center seemed surprised when the tie was announced, but coach Mark Sowa took the results with optimism.
“That’s a well-coached team and that’s a very good team, that brought out the best in these girls and we should be proud of that,” Sowa said. “Any time we get a chance to race anybody it’s an opportunity to get better and discuss who we are and who we want to become.”
Sowa said he wasn’t disappointed to drop the final relay. He said it would have been difficult to pull out results in both relays, as Idaho took first and third in the 200 medley relay.
“We knew that we had to try and win one of the relays, the medley relay was awesome and for us to get a victory right there, we went after that relay,” he said. “It would’ve been tough for us to win both of them, we knew that going in.”
Idaho placed first in five events, and held off Oregon State for most of the meet due to placing two top-three finishers in eight events and a top-three finisher in all but one event.
Savannah Bettis’ first-place finish in the 200 butterfly set a record with 2:05.94.
“It’s pretty amazing what just competing will do for you. That’s a girl who wanted to win,” Sowa said. You just try to get your hand on the wall and swim with confidence … She’s been a great leader.”
The meet was Idaho’s first of the year in Moscow, and the team was greeted with nearly a full house and a lot of noise.
“It was a really big turnout, we were really happy,” Bettis said. “The noise in here was awesome and it was fun to get pumped up and to hear all our fans cheering.”
The Vandals have little time to pat themselves on the back from this result, as another Pac-12 program in Washington State rolls into Moscow Saturday for a pool style battle of the Palouse.
The meet will be a homecoming of sorts for Washington State’s coach Tom Jager, who spent seven seasons at Idaho before heading eight miles west to take over the Cougars.
Sowa said he hopes continued competitiveness from his team can translate in to similar results against Washington State.
“Races aren’t swum on paper. Races aren’t swum because you have a different conference on your sleeve. Races are swum in the pool and on any given day somebody could be great,” he said.