Men continue to sink in NESCAC Swimmers and Divers drop third and fourth straight meets

Author: Zamir Ahmed

While most Middlebury students were enjoying a relaxing week off, the men's swimming and diving team took on a busy schedule, participating in three meets over the break.

The team hosted Williams College and Dartmouth University at the Natatorium before traveling to Massachusetts to take part in the MIT Invitation, competing against six other schools from the region.

On Jan. 29 the team played host to Williams, the defending NESCAC champions. Despite having four swimmers win solo events at the meet, the team was overmatched and fell by a score of 196-104.

The Panthers were paced by Captain Jason Korsmeyer '05, a winner in the 100y backstroke in a time of 53.47 seconds, and by Rob Collier '07, the winner in the 200y butterfly in a time of 1:57.49.

Other first-place finishers at the meet were Peter Bell '08 in the 100y breaststroke, who won the event in 1:00.85 and Austin Krissoff '06, who won the 200y freestyle in a time of 1:46.88.

The team was also helped by several second place finishes. First-year Robbie Burton took second in the 200y freestyle while Tim Lux '07 added a second-place finish in the 100y breaststroke. Collier also added a pair of seconds in the 200y backstroke and the 400y IM while John Rayburn '06 and Guillermo Garcia '08 had second place finishes in the 50y freestyle and 500y freestyle, respectively. Michael Young '07 led the diving team, finishing 2nd in the 3m and a third in the 1m.

On Feb. 2, the Panthers took on Dartmouth at the Natatorium. The Division I Big Green proved to be too much for Middlebury, taking the meet with a score of 146-106. The loss was the Panthers' fourth in a row and dropped their record to 3-5 on the year.

Dual winner Lux and David Hawkins '05 collected the Panthers' only individual victories on the day. Lux took the 50y breaststroke and 100y breaststroke, both ahead of second place finisher Bell, while Hawkins posted a win in the 50y butterfly and added a second place finish in the 50y freestyle.

On Feb. 5, the team traveled to Cambridge to test themselves in the M.I.T. Invitational. There the Panthers were able to weigh their strengths against familiar opponents in preparation for the upcoming NESCAC championships.

The team was led by Collier and Bell, who were the team's only winners.

Bell took first in the 100y breaststroke in 1:00.63 and finished second in the 200y breaststroke, finishing the race in 2:14.28. Collier added a victory in the 200y IM with a time of 1:59.74. Young had a good meet as well, posting second place finishes in both the 1m and 3m diving competitions.

The team now has two weeks off to prepare for the NESCAC championships, held Feb 25 to 27 at Wesleyan College. There, they will look to improve on their fourth-place finish last year.