After boasting impressive individual performances in their first meet of the season, the Maroons rolled over Wheaten on the road this past weekend.
“Although we didn’t win the tri-meet with NU and Denison, the team as a whole did extremely well. Therefore, we were super excited for this meet against Wheaton, especially with another week of good training under our belts,” first-year David Farr said.
The men used their training and excitement to their advantage, ending the day with seven first-place finishes on their way to a 117–86 victory.
“I was especially proud of the performance of my fellow freshmen, who on the men’s side had five of our seven event wins. They really stepped up to lead the team to victory,” first-year Michael Todd said.
Todd finished first in the 1,000-yard freestyle and 200-yard backstroke with times of 9:47.81 and 1:58.90. First-year Alexander Farrell won the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 46.69. Farr won the 200-yard IM with a time of 1.59.78. Farrell also teamed up with fellow first-years Winston Wang, Keenan Novis, and Stephen Park to win the 400-yard freestyle relay with a time of 3:08.77.
Returning competitors also contributed to the squad’s success; third-year Kevin Ku won the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 1:54.86, and second-year Alex Lin won the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:12.21.
“Overall, the team as a whole performed at our best both in terms of swimming and team spirit. Everyone was trying the hardest and people were even achieving some best times, which is amazing this early in the season. And everyone was up and cheering on whoever was in the water,” Farr said.
That energy carried over to the women’s side as the women’s team finished with six first-place finishes on its way to a dominant 122-83 victory.
“We each stepped it up and raced some fast races against Wheaton,” first-year Hannah Eastman said.
“There was so much energy on the pool deck, and this energy translated into some incredible performances, especially Cecile Browning’s and Michael Todd’s 1,000 free style,” third-year Alison Wall said.
First-year Cecile Kurman-Browning won the 1,000-yard freestyle with a time of 10:35.52. Third-year Maya Scheidl won the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:55.50, and Wall won the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:16.84.
Hannah Eastman won the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:11.37, and fourth-year Karen Chu won the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2:16.83. Scheidl, Wall, Kurman-Browning, and first-year Naomy Grand’Pierre teamed up to dominate the 400-yard freestyle relay.
“I was really happy with how I and the rest of the team performed, and I can’t wait to see what we are going to do next weekend against Wash U,” Wall said.
Both the men’s and the women’s team look to carry their momentum to next week, when they will face their rival Wash U.
