After a two month hiatus, the UW’s Natatorium was once again echoing with screams and cheers as the men’s and women’s swim teams returned to action over the weekend. The 12th ranked men’s team entertained Purdue and Minnesota, while the 10th ranked women’s team hosted Purdue, Minnesota and Illinois in the dual meet.

The men’s team defeated the Boilermakers by a score of 199-151, but was unable to pull the upset against perennial powerhouse Minnesota. The seventh ranked Golden Gophers defeated the Badgers by a score of 219-131. The Badgers now sport a record of 6-2 overall and 4-1 in the Big Ten.

UW began the second day of the event trailing the Gophers by a margin of only 10 points, but was unable to close the gap as Minnesota dominated on day two.

The Badgers were led by burgeoning star junior Adam Mania. Mania posted a total of five wins in his relay and individual events including two new pool records in both the 100-yard and 200-yard backstroke. Mania’s time of 1:49.45 in the 200-yard individual medley also earned him an NCAA “B” cut time giving him a chance to compete in the NCAA championships later this year.

“I stayed here this past summer and made some really big improvements, in learning how to train and learning how to race and finally everything is coming together,” Mania said.

Several other Badgers posted winning marks in the meet, including Eric Weisner in the 200-yard freestyle, Pat Torpey in the 200-yard butterfly and Matt Marshall in the 100-yard butterfly. The Badgers also enjoyed three relay team victories during the meet.

Although no excuses were offered for the loss to the Gophers, concerns of depth seem to be at the top of the team’s mind.

“We’re not as deep as we’d like to be, but our top end is there and I think when it comes time to rest, we’re going to be just fine,” Wisconsin coach Eric Hansen said.

Mania also touched on UW’s size disadvantage.

“This year we thought we could do it, but once again the number of our team was a set back,” he said. “We have probably the smallest team in the Big Ten. We might not have quantity but we sure have quality.”

On the women’s side the Badgers swept their first home meet since November. The Badgers registered wins of 253-98 over the Fighting Illini, 226-126 over the Golden Gophers and 238-114 over the Boilermakers. The women’s team has now earned a record of 9-1 overall and 6-0 in the Big Ten.

The women were dominant from start to finish, as they entered the second day with a 53-point advantage over the Golden Gophers, their closest competition. The Badgers set the tone early with a win in the first event of the meet, the 200-yard medley relay, by greater than a three second margin.

The rest of the meet consisted of more dominant performances from captains Bethany Pendleton, who picked up three individual wins and two relay wins, and Carly Piper who picked up two individual wins, a relay win, and twice finished second to teammates.

“I think our top end and our depth were very well represented in this meet.” Hansen said.

Depth from swimmers such as sophomore Amalia Sarnecki, freshman Susan Johnson, sophomore Anna Trinidad, who was out with strep throat, and others has created a confident and diverse women’s team.

“We just have so many versatile women,” Hansen said. “Our freestyles are our strengths but we really filled in the jobs with our strokes.”

Hansen’s comments were highlighted by the team’s performance in the 200-yard individual medley where Wisconsin swept the top three spots in the event. Bethany Pendleton took first with a time of 2:02.66, followed by Emily Pisula’s 2:03.95 and Andrea Wiesner’s 2:07.19.

The big day by freshman Susan Johnson is also a testament to coach Hansen’s use of versatile swimmers.

“Susan Johnson has been incredible for us. She’s really developed,” Hansen said.

Johnson earned victories in the 100-yard backstroke, 100-yard butterfly, 200-yard and 800-yard free relays and the 200-yard medley relay.

“This was a pretty good meet, for this point in the season I thought it was really good,” Johnson said. “I’m just really happy with the way this season is going. I would have never dreamed of my freshman season going this well.”

Both teams will be back in the Natatorium pool on Feb 6th at 5 p.m. to face the UW-Green Bay Phoenix and the UW-Milwaukee Panthers.