After a tough loss in their season opener, the Maroons dove back into competition with dominant wins on both the men’s and women’s side over Wheaton in this past weekend’s home opener.
“The team was not discouraged at all despite our first loss to Denison,” third-year Karen Chu said. “We got back and had a high-intensity week of training. Wheaton’s women’s team finished 12th last year at NCAA’s, just two spots behind UChicago, so they are really good competition for us.”
On the men’s side, second-years Jonas Fowler and Rolland Lee took home two first-place victories apiece. Fowler earned his victories in the 1,000-yard freestyle (10:09.79) and 100-yard freestyle (48.88), while Lee led the pack in the 500-yard freestyle (4:52.84) and was a part of the winning 400-yard freestyle relay team alongside second-year Jeremy Estes, fourth-year Michael Charysh, and fourth-year Robby Kunkel.
Lee joins Charysh and fourth-year Andrew Angeles as the one of the only Maroon men to earn victories in both an individual race and relay race.
The Maroons had a pair of relay victories with the 400-yard medley relay team, consisting of Angeles, Estes, first-year Alex Lin, and second-year Jonathan Simoneau, which also placed first with a time of 3:31.69.
Second-year Kevin Ku placed first in the 200-yard backstroke (1:59.96), while first-year Connor Turkatte earned a first-place finish in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 21.92 seconds.
Divers first-year Dean Boures and fourth-year Kevin Steffes placed first in the one-meter dive and three-meter dive, respectively.
The men ended the meet with a score of 162–64 and 11 first-place finishes.
The Maroon women defeated Wheaton by a score of 136–101 and had five individuals take seven first-place finishes.
“The team was excited to get a win against Wheaton. Halfway through the meet Wheaton’s women were beating us, but we were able to refocus and come back to secure our win, which was really exciting,” Chu said. “We were a little worried since a few of our teammates were out due to sicknesses, but we adapted and were able to finish first.”
Chu anchored the team, with two victories, while first-year Natalie DeMuro led the diving squad, earning two of her own first-place finishes in both the one-meter and three-meter dive.
Chu placed first in the two longest races of the day, the 1,000-yard freestyle (10:53.70) and the 500-yard freestyle (5:22.06).
First-year Sydney Wong earned her first collegiate victory in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:10.87.
Fourth-year team captain Jennifer Hill and second-year Alison Wall each picked up a victory in the 100-yard freestyle and 200-yard backstroke, respectively.
The Maroons head south Saturday, looking to build upon this momentum as they compete against UAA rival Wash U.
