Heading into last night’s dual meet with Binghamton, the men’s and women’s swim teams knew that they had a chance to shine. Neither squad disappointed, as the Red dominated the evening, picking up a pair of victories against its Central New York rival. The women more than doubled Binghamton’s score with a final tally of 212-81, while the men’s final score was 172-120.
“It was a fun meet. The team really came together tonight, and we had the chance to swim in events we usually don’t get to try,” said the men’s team’s junior captain Stefano Caprara.
The men’s team set five new pool records last night. Senior Danny Diette set a record for the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 50.38.
“It was a successful meet. One of the standouts at this meet was Diette,” said head coach Joe Lucia. “He had a very competitive time, which was nice to see.”
Sophomore Mike Smit set a pool record in the 1000-meter freestyle with a time of 9:40.27, finishing 25 seconds ahead of his closest competitor.
Sophomore Rich Bowen won the 200-yard breaststroke in a time of 2:09.62. Bowen’s performance was one of the highlights of the night for the Red. Caprara also set a pool record for the 100-yard backstroke, finishing in 51.53, far ahead of his Bearcat competitors.
The women’s team also dominated the meet last night, scoring victories in all 16 events, including sweeping the top spots in the 100-yard breaststroke, 200-yard butterfly, and the 50-yard free.
Sophomore diver Kristin Rayhack placed first in each event she entered, scoring 277.35 on the three-meter springboard and 345.3 on the one-meter springboard. Classmate Caitlin Burrows also performed well in the diving events, placing third on the three-meter and in second place on the one meter.
On the men’s side, senior Tony Schultz and sophomore Trevor Fontes placed first and second, respectively, on both the one- and three-meter springboards.
The meet against Binghamton also provided many of the team’s freshmen the opportunity score their first college victories.
“A lot of the freshmen got to try events this meet, and they did really well,” Caprara said.
Devin Demenno placed first for the Red in the 500-meter freestyle, while Brad placed second in the 110-yard free. Nate Riccitelli also took second place in the 50-yard freestyle.
The men’s team will return to action after a long layoff for exams, returning to action on Jan. 15 against Navy and Yale at Navy. The women, meanwhile, will wrap up the fall portion of their schedule on Saturday, when they travel to San Antonio, Tex., to participate in the U.S. Open. Both squads will train for a week in Puerto Rico during winter break.
Archived article by Kristen Schneider
Sun Staff