Following an impressive win against Rider last week in New Jersey, the Retrievers returned to the pool to build on their success against Navy this past Saturday. Navy entered the meet at 2-0 and would prove to be a tough, early season test for the Retrievers, who were 1-0 entering action on Saturday.

UMBC kept it close against Navy; however, it did not equal up to a win for the first time this season as the Mids took the meet by a final score of 166-134. Navy accumulated 13 first-place finishes over 16 events.

"We're extremely proud of our women," said coach Chad Cradock about the meet. "They swam really fast with some people dropping some time off of their lifetime best scores, which is huge for a dual meet.

"We were really competitive in all the events and when we lost, we still had our depth which kept us closer within the meet. A team like Navy keeps us on our toes and helps us continue for success."

Even though the event goes down as a loss in the record books, UMBC held their heads high afterward because the team was able to learn a lot about itself and its progress. Despite Navy taking 13 events, UMBC's swimmers were able to keep heat on them by taking second and third place an astounding seven times following a first place finish by Navy.

"Overall, we swam so much better than last week, even though we won [last week]," said Teresa Kaplanova. "The times were so much faster this week so we definitely swam with pride and tried really hard.

"We have a lot more of a depth. Even though we aren't able to beat the faster in the event, we usually get second, third, and fourth. The first place points count the most but when we are right behind them, there's always a chance."

Kaplanova was one of three UMBC swimmers to win an event on Saturday, as she was able to win the 200m individual medley with a time of 2:11.34.

While Kaplanova was able to taste success, the point she stressed of always threatening the Navy winners was illustrated best when she was in a hard-fought battle in the 200m breaststroke. Kaplanova and Mallory Dietrich went back and forth for the lead but it was Dietrich who came out on top. Behind her were three UMBC swimmers: Kaplanova, Gabrielle Johnston, and Renice Kenny, showing the depth on the roster.

The other two UMBC swimmers to record wins were Tina Cantwell and Jennifer Esposito. Esposito took the 200m butterfly in 2:06.47. She was followed closely by her teammates in the event, as Lindsay Sherman, Jennifer Kotonias, and Kate Chialastri all took the top four spots to make it a UMBC sweep.

Cantwell, on the other hand, just edged out Dietrich with a time of 1:05.47 in the 100m breaststroke. Cantwell and Esposito won both of their events back-to-back.

UMBC had plenty of close calls against Navy in a variety of events that truly showed how well-matched the two teams were against each other. The Navy 200m medley relay team kicked off the meet and set the tone by winning by just .31 of a second.

Also, Samantha Maccherola finished that event of 1:52.51, which was almost half a second off of the winning time in the 200m freestyle.

On the diving side, Amanda Shinholser from UMBC took second in the one-meter dive with a score of 197.55. Shinholser then was able to take second one more in the three-meter dive by scoring 193.13 points.

"For the first time in a while we had our divers step up and, even though we got second, it was a huge improvement from the past," Cradock said. He also mentioned that, in the past, Navy usually took the top three scores in the final diving results.

The Retrievers now have two weeks off to prepare for a tri-meet which includes Towson and the University of Maryland, at College Park.