Swim Teams Top Union on the Road

In an away meet last weekend on Saturday, Jan. 17, the Middlebury men’s and women’s Swimming and Diving teams outscored Union College in Schenectady, NY. The women sped to an easy 149.5-86.5 victory, adding to a 6-2 record on the season, while the men (4-4) continued their 4-meet winning streak, edging the Dutchmen 122-119 by just three points.

A victory in the opening event set the women’s team up for more success as the crew of Sarah Bartholomae ’18, Jamie Hillas ’15, Megan Griffin ’16, and Morgan Burke ’17 clocked a 1:50.92 to win the 200 medley relay.

As reflected by their high overall score, the women recorded many first-place finishes, including Jennifer Koide ’17’s finishes in both the 200 individual medley (2:15.82) and the 200 breaststroke (2:29.93) along with Jamie Sawyer ’16’s finish in the 200 butterfly (2:13.21).

In fact, the women swept every freestyle event except for the 50 free, with wins by Burke in the 100 freestyle (54.44), Hillas in the 200 freestyle (1:58.95), Elinor Reinhardt ’17 in the 500 freestyle (5:27.20), Kelly Delane ’18 in the 1000 freestyle (11:05.02), and finally, Hillas, Burke, Stephanie Andrews ’18, and Courtney Haron ’15 in the 200 freestyle relay (1:40.27).

Matthew Lantin ’18 again managed to win both 200 free (1:47.23) and the 500 free (4:45.70), while Michael McGean ’17 also earned a first place finish for the men in the 1000 free (9:59.86). Senior captain Teddy Kuo ’15 led his heat in the 200 butterfly (2:01.36) to earn nine points.

The swimmers with second, third, and even fourth-place performances made especially valuable contributions on the men’s side. Every point counted, including the total of 10 points accumulated by Dylan Peters ’16 and Adrianna Baker ’15 in the one and three-meter diving competitions. So when it came time for the last event, the 200 freestyle relay, the men’s team was trailing by six points.

“We were all really pumped because we knew that if we won that relay we would win the whole meet,” said Taylor Moore ’18, who swam the first leg. Luckily, Moore, Noel Antonisse ’17, Andrew Lee ’15, and Paul Lagasse ’16 touched the wall with a time of 1:29.37 to win the event and the meet.

The Panthers will host Williams Swimming and Diving in a dual meet this Saturday, Jan. 24 at 1:00 p.m. at the Middlebury Natatorium. Middlebury will see how its recent successes can measure up to Williams’ almost perfect record  of 5-0-1 for the men and 6-0 for the women.