On Dec. 4, both the men and women of swim and dive traveled to the Ocasek Natatorium in Akron, Ohio, to compete in the Zippy Invitational. The meet earns its name on account of the University of Akron’s mascot, “Zippy.”
Over the course of four days, the men competed against three other teams: Keiser University, Pennsylvania Western University, Clarion and Youngstown State University.
Keiser, located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, is no team to take lightly, according to men’s head coach Wes Newman ’09.
“[They’re] not a large school, but they’ve got a really solid swim team,” Newman said. “They’ve brought in some really good talent both domestically and internationally.”
Despite the solid competition, the men won the meet, posting 2147.5 points and finishing far ahead of second place YSU.
The men’s A-teams found success in the relay races. The men placed third in the 200-meter medley and the 400-meter freestyle, having been denied second place by less than a second on each occasion. In the 200-meter freestyle and 400-meter medley, the men’s top squads achieved second place. In the 800-meter freestyle, the Red emerged victorious.
According to Newman, these results constitute a solid performance.
“I’m happy with where they were at this point in the season,” Newman said. “The guys on [the relay teams] did a nice job.”
Newman specifically commended senior Pietro Ubertalli and the other swimmers on the 800-meter freestyle relay, as well as junior Haihan Xu’s performance in the medley.
“Ubertalli led off [the relay] in a solid swim for this point in the season,” Newman said. “The three other guys on that relay were also pretty solid.”
Newman further praised sophomore Haihan Xu for stepping up when needed.
“Xu … stepped up and had a great breast stroke split in the [400-meter medley relay,” Newman said..
Turning to individual performances, Ubertalli, Xu and junior Julian Correa all won first place for the Red.
Ubertalli triumphed in the 200-meter backstroke and 500-meter freestyle. The 500-meter freestyle isn’t one of Ubertalli’s normal events, given that he is a 200-meter specialist.
“We had him swim the [500-meter freestyle] for two reasons,” Newman said. “One is to see [him] do something different; to see what he could [do]. Two, it’s also a great way to train … swimming a 500 [meter race] is great training to just go a little bit further than [his usual] distances.”
Xu bested all his rivals in both the 100-meter breaststroke and the 200-meter breaststroke. According to Newman, his performance also bodes well for future meets.
“[Xu] dropped a full second from his lifetime best [in the 100 Meter Breaststroke] at [the Zippy Invitational], which is very encouraging,” Newman said. “He’s putting in a lot of hard work and it’s paying off in the pool.”
Correa earned gold in the 400-meter Individual Medley.
“[Correa’s] been training really well up until this point this year,” Newman said. “I think where he’s at right now is a good sign.”
Wrapping up for the men, Newman believes that the Red’s overall goals for the race were achieved thoroughly.
“Our biggest goal for this meet was to use it as a dress rehearsal for the [Ivy League Championship] and see where we’re at right now in terms of conditioning and speed," Newman said. “I think we took away a lot of good information.”
The women’s team faced a different task than the men. Along with facing Keiser, PennWest Clarion and YSU, they also battled against Akron, Bowling Green State University and the University at Buffalo.
The women finished the meet in second place, far behind Akron, narrowly ahead of Buffalo and comfortably ahead of all other opposition.
On the surface, the relays were not as strong for the women as they were for the men, as the women were left without a first place finish. Their A-teams ended in second place in the 400-meter medley, 200-meter freestyle and the 400-meter freestyle; they were left in third place in the 200-meter medley and the 800-meter medley. However, if the women were facing only the teams that participated in the men’s competition, they would’ve finished first in every relay except for the 200 medley.
Junior Erin DeHollander and sophomore Katherine Ferreira won one gold medal each. DeHollander topped the 1650-meter freestyle in a personal best effort, while Ferreira won the 400-meter Individual Medley, also swimming a personal-best.
With the conclusion of the Zippy Invitational, the next action for the Red will be in the new year, as they take on St. Bonaventure University on Jan. 10, 2026 in Teagle Pool. Start time is listed at 11 a.m.
