The men’s and women’s swimming teams brought home mixed results this weekend, with the men’s swimming team splitting its first meet of the season on Saturday, beating Dartmouth and losing to Harvard and the women’s team falling to both Harvard and Dartmouth in its first shot at its Ivy League competition.
The men’s squad (1-1 Ivy) routed Dartmouth by a score of 238-62. The Red came up short against Harvard in an close loss, 137.5-162.5.
The Red got a strong effort out of both its “A” and “B” 200 medley teams, which took first (1:33.10) and fourth place (9:59.62), respectively.
In the individual races, the team swam to five top finishes on the day. Senior Stefano Caprara captured first in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 51.38. Close behind was freshman Phil Baity, who swam to a third-place finish in 52.25.
“We wanted to give Harvard a run for their money,” Caprara said. “We definitely went to the next level. So many people stepped up.”
Junior Dave McKechnie won the 100-yard breastroke with a time of 58.52. The Red had a strong presence in the 50-yard free, with sophomore Brad Gorter finishing first (21.36) and junior Mike Balint tying for second place (21.42). Junior Mike Smit earned a first-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:39.19, and won the 100-yard free as well with his time of 45.90.
“The final score does not reflect how close we came to winning [against Harvard],” said head coach Joe Lucia. “Five of the six last events were determined by a few hundreths of a second. We came about as close as we could to beating the best team in the league.”
The Red got some help from its younger swimmers, with freshman Wes Newman finishing second in the men’s 1,000-yard freestyle with a time of 9:35.59, while classmate Nick Cochran finished fourth in the race with a time of 9:59.62.
“We swam a superb meet,” Lucia said. “I am really proud of everyone.”
Junior Luke Baer had a strong day diving, finishing second on both the 1-meter board and the 3-meter board.
The women’s team (0-2 Ivy) lost to both Harvard and Dartmouth. The Red could not keep up with Harvard, losing 189-111. The squad fell to Dartmouth by a score of 176-122.
Despite the loss, the women’s team showed streaks of brilliance in its first meet. Senior Elissa Kline, senior Jessica Brookman, and sophomore Leah Tourtolette performed well in an otherwise lackluster day for the Red.
Kline swam despite a calf injury and finished first in the 200-yard freestyle (1:55.66), second in the 100-yard free (54.07) and third in the 500 free (5:09.63). Brookman swam to a very fast victory in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 57.36, finishing 1.6 seconds in front of her next competitor. Brookman also finished second in the 200 backstroke with a time of 2:08.58 and third in the 100 breastroke (1:08.58), an event that she does not regularly compete in. Tourtolette came up big for the Red, winning the 100 backstroke (59.26) as well as the 50-yard freestyle (24.46). She finished up her scoring for the day with a second-place finish in the 200-yard individual medley (2:11.36).
The women divers contributed to the points total as well, with senior Kristin Rayhack coming in fourth in the 3-meter diving event.
Archived article by Matt Sarnak
Sun Staff Writer