Swim Teams Dive into Beginning of Season

Men’s and women’s swimming and diving started their season on Saturday, Nov. 21, hosting Connecticut College and Tufts at the Middlebury Natatorium. While both the men and women lost to Connecticut College (152-128 and 152-136, respectively), and the Panther men sustained a 176-112 loss to Tufts, the Middlebury women edged Tufts 151-149.

Isabel Wyer ’18 started the season off strong, winning the 200 free by nearly two seconds with a time of 1:55.38, and the 500 free, clocking 5:07.56.

Close behind Wyer in the 500 free, Alaina Pribis’ ’19 5:22.21 earned her a third place spot. Co-Captain Megan Griffin ’16 got second place in the 100 fly (1:00.15), and Lucy Scott ’16 placed third in the 500 free (10:55.87).

Sarah Bartholomae ’18 and Katie Corrigan ’19’s times of 1:03.01 and 1:03.06 in the 100 back took both third and fourth place for the Panthers, and co-Captain Maddie Pierce ’16 placed third in the 200 back (2:16.46), before Caroline Kelly ’16, who finished fourth (2:16.86).

Middlebury showed strength in their relays. Wyer (back), Liza MacCowatt ’19 (breast), Griffin (fly) and Morgan Burke ’16 (free) won the 200 medley relay (1:49.94), and Griffin, Burke, Stephanie Andrews ’18 and Wyer touched the wall just .21 seconds behind Conn. College in the 200 free relay (1:39.82).

Head Coach Bob Rueppel differentiated the program’s strategies for the men and the women. “On the women’s side we’re hoping to build off of last season’s success: getting further along not only in the conference but on the national level,” Rueppel said. “One of my goals coming in [for the men is] to have a real solid foundation in the program.”

So despite the team’s overall losses, the eight different men’s swimmers who scored big in events throughout the meet helped set the versatile foundation that Rueppel talked about. Stephan Koenigsberger ’16 and Bryan Cheuk ’16 touched the wall first in individual events: the 100 breast (59.01) and 50 free (22.10), respectively. In the 50 free, Jack McLaughlin ’18 placed second (22.24) behind Cheuk, and Taylor Moore ’18 touched the wall fifth with a time of 22.44 to clinch three of the top five spots for the Panthers.

Co-Captain Paul Lagasse ’16 finished second in the 100 free (48.80), while Connor McCormick ’18 got second in the 200 breaststroke (2:14.33).

Michael McGean ’17 did well in long-distance events, placing third in the 500 free (4:48.20) and second in the 1000 free (9:51.71).

Cheuk, Brendan Leech ’19, McLaughlin and Lagasse each swam a leg in the 200 free relay to earn the Panthers’ final victory of the day (1:27.24).

Their splits of 22.12, 22.08, 21.62 and 21.42 respectively all came close to Cheuk’s winning time of 22.10 in the individual 50 free.

Meanwhile, first-year Will Greene ’19 placed first in the 1-meter (217.28) and second in the 3-meter (201.60) events in his first performance as a Middlebury diver. Elissa DeNunzio ’18 earned 182.00 points in the 1-meter diving competition and 208.20 in the 3-meter to take second in both events.

Amherst will host Middlebury this Saturday, Dec. 5 for what ought to be another fast meet.