Men's pool rats rack up two conference wins Swimmers and divers win convincingly against strong NESCAC rivals

Author: Zamir Ahmed

The Middlebury men's swimming and diving team posted two impressive victories this weekend, boosting their record to 3-1. The Panthers beat Colby on Saturday 155-127 and Bates on Sunday 168-102, hosting both meets at the Middlebury College Natatorium. It was the team's third straight victory since losing to Springfield in the first meet of the season.

On Saturday the team opened up the meet with a win in the 400m medley relay and never looked back. The Panthers were led by Rob Collier '07 and Peter Bell '08, who each won two races against Colby.

Collier showed his versatility in the pool on Saturday, winning the 400m individual medley in a time of 4:21.46 and the 200m individual medley in 2:04.67. Bell won the 50m breaststroke in a time of 28.63 seconds and the 100m breaststroke with a time of 1:02.50.

Other noteworthy performances from Saturday included a win by Michael Young '07 in 3m diving and David Hawkins '05 taking the 50m butterfly with a time of 23.94. Senior Adam Rahal also added a win for the team in the 100m freestyle with a time of 55.86. The 4x400m medley relay team of Jason Korsmeyer '05, Tim Lux '07, Hawkins and Robbie Burton '08 also clinched a victory for the Panthers.

On Sunday the Panthers were again led by Collier, Bell, and junior Rob Hillas, who all won two events each. Collier added to his wins on Saturday by taking the 200m butterfly in a time of 2:00.73 and the 200m backstroke in 2:04.23.

Bell again won the 100m breaststroke with a time of 1:02.54 and won the 200m breaststroke in 2:17.99. Hillas showed his stamina against Bates, winning the 500m freestyle in 5:00.27 and 1000m freestyle in 10:19.78.

Hawkins also added a second victory of the weekend against Bates, winning the 100 freestyle in 49.47. Burton, Evan Williams '08 and John Rayburn '07 also won individual events against Bates. The 200m medley relay team of Korsmeyer, Lux, Hawkins and Burton alos contributed a win.

The Panthers next meet will be this Saturday at Hamilton College, where they will hope to continue their recent success. The team will be looking to prepare themselves for the NESCAC championship held February 25-27.