Head coach Joe Lucia said they could finish anywhere between fourth and eighth depending on how they swam, and the team followed up on that prediction. The men’s swimmers and divers finished seventh this weekend in the EISL Championships at the Nassau County Aquatic Center in Uniondale, NY.
The Red stepped up one spot after the first day to finish just five points behind the United States Naval Academy for seventh place. The title this season went to Harvard, who outscored the Princeton Tigers in the final seven events to claim the top spot.
The team, who finished with a 7-4 overall record, and 5-4 in the EISL, was “a little undermanned,” and did “not have as much depth,” as some of the other squads said senior captain Danny Royce. Royce, who finished 10th in 200-yard breaststroke, also noted that he “wasn’t pleased with [his] performance.”
The top finisher for the Red was freshman standout Stefano Caprara who finished sixth in the 200-yard backstroke, and was a member of the 400-yard freestyle relay team who finished in seventh place.
“Without him we would have been down a lot of points,” said Royce.
Rounding out the relay team with Caprara was a trio of seniors: Charles Ernst, Julian King, and Jeremy Sample. Sample also finished in 14th place in the 100-yard freestyle to give him a second place showing on the day.
Divers senior Tim Lenz and freshman Tony Schultz finished seventh and eighth in the three-meter diving events, respectively. Other top finishes for Cornell were earned by junior Rob Payne in the 200-yard butterfly and freshman Chase Nielsen in the 1650-freestyle event.
Looking Forward
When asked how the team would fair next season without the current senior class, Royce was optimistic.
“We gel as a team,” he said. “With our strong freshman, along with a strong recruiting class, we could possibly go 9-2 next season.”
Archived article by Chris Mascaro