It was a day to forget for Vedaant Madhavan. The son of actor R Madhavan, now a senior at West Virginia University, finished near the bottom in two freestyle events as the Mountaineers were beaten by No. 8 Virginia at the Aquatic and Fitness Center on Saturday.
In the 200-yard freestyle, the Indian swimmer placed seventh in 1:42.10. A West Virginia teammate won the race in 1:36.56, more than five seconds clear of him. Vedaant also struggled in the 500-yard freestyle, where he was well off the pace of the leaders. West Virginia lost the meet 175-83, according to reports.
The mismatch is reflected in the score. The men's meet was described as an exhibition against a ranked opponent in West Virginia's preview. West Virginia is unranked, whereas Virginia's men were ranked seventh in the country. The Cavaliers had a hectic week as well. The day before, a portion of their team participated in the College Swimming League championship game in Indianapolis, while the remaining members swam versus West Virginia.
The 200 free time will sting because Vedaant has been faster this season. He swam 1:37.67 over the same distance against Cincinnati and Delaware on October 24. Last November he went 1:36.20 at the WVU Invitational, the fifth-fastest time in program history.
Vedaant transferred to West Virginia from Virginia Tech and has been one of the Mountaineers’ key distance swimmers alongside freshman Jake Salcedo. He arrived for his final collegiate season after making his Asian Games debut, where he missed a final by just 0.2 seconds.
What next
One dual meet against a top-10 team won’t define his season, and West Virginia’s men entered the weekend with a 3-1 record. The Mountaineers now turn to the Ohio State Invitational, where Vedaant will have a chance to bounce back in the freestyle events.
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