The College's swimming and diving teams split with Rowan University last Wednesday, as the women lost 155-138 and the men were victorious 167.5-130.5. With the victory, the men jumped to 4-3 overall while the women fell to 1-8.
The highlight of the meet was the record-breaking 1,000-meter freestyle race by sophomore Mike Molloy in 9:46.22. Teammates describe Molloy as a hard worker.
In diving, senior Lee Swanson and sophomore Greg Lloyd both won the one-meter and three-meter events. Swanson earned 259.65 points in the one-meter event, earning a NCAA qualifying mark. Swanson tallied 251.7 points in the three-meter dive. Lloyd scored 301.5 and 302.63 in the one- and three-meter dive, respectively. Jessica Lynch earned a second-place finish in the one- and three-meter dive with scores of 145.95 and 125.55, respectively.
Junior Ava Kiss was strong on the day, earning first place in the 100-meter and 200-meter freestyle and the 100-meter butterfly. Kiss finished the races in 1:58.40, 54.38 and 58.52, respectively. Sophomore Emily Reichard also had first place finishes in the 100- and 200-meter breaststroke.
"Even though we didn't win our last two meets, our team has been working hard and looking good in the pool," senior Catherine Beningo said. "Next weekend should be a good meet for us and we are expecting to win, although our real focus now is on our championship meet in three weeks."
In the 200-meter butterfly, junior Stefanie Rashti finished second in 2:17.42. Senior Laura Heslin placed second in the 200-meter backstroke in 2:17.42, and sophomore Stacy Delehanty earned second place in the 200-meter individual medley in 2:18.84.
In men's action, the 400-meter freestyle team took first place in a time of 3:14.41. The team consisted of junior Josh Forsman, sophomore Mike Heaney, senior Kyle King and sophomore Tom Nawrot.
Molloy also picked up first place in the 500-meter freestyle in 4:47.64. King took home first place in the 100-meter freestyle and Nawrot in the 100-meter backstroke with times of 47.82 and 54.36, respectively. In the 100-meter butterfly, Forsman came in first place in 52.51 and earned second in the 200-meter butterfly, finishing in 1:59.34.
In the 200-meter backstroke, Heaney came in first in 1:59.81, while junior Liam Gallagher placed second in 2:00.23. Sophomore Ted Yoa finished second in both the 100- and 200-meter breaststrokes with times of 1:01.73 and 2:15.83. Gallagher finished second in the 200-meter individual medley in 2:00.09 and King took second in the 200-meter freestyle in 1:45.96 and the 50-meter freestyle in 22.46. Junior Josh Schoenfeld was second in the 100-meter freestyle with a time of 10:32.01.
On Sunday, the men's swimming and diving team handed New York University (NYU) its first loss of the season as the College improved to 5-3 overall. The women were defeated by NYU with a score of 160-83.
Lloyd came up big for his team by defeating freshman Ryan Murray, taking first place in both one-meter dives with scores of 295.60 and 280.65.
The 400-meter medley relay team defeated NYU with a time of 3:33.70. The team consisted of Nawrot, freshman Myles O'Connor, Forsman and King.
"We even chose the meet format that their coach prefers, the one they are better at; we loved the challenge," Nawrot said.
Molloy earned first place in the 1,000-meter freestyle in 9:49.59 and won first place in the 500-meter freestyle. Sophomore Paul Hogan took second in the 1,000-meter freestyle in 9:53.99. Hogan also finished second in the 500-meter freestyle.
King earned first in the 200-meter freestyle in 1:45.32, and Heaney took second in 1:47.90 for the Lions. King took home first in the 100-meter freestyle in 47.51, while Heaney won the 200-meter backstroke in 1:58.85.
"With NYU's perfect record, it was nice to show them they weren't the best team around," Nawrot said.
It was a tough day for the women, as their record is now 1-8 on the season. Swanson once again dove to victory with scores of 259.85 and 254.0. Swanson beat senior Abigail Penn in both one-meter dive events and dominated with NCAA qualifying scores.
Kiss took home first in the 200-meter medley in 2:14.36, and Delehanty followed in second with a time of 2:18.50. The 400-meter freestyle relay of Seto, senior Kerry Genese, Kiss and sophomore Brittany Collyer defeated NYU with a time of 3:43.28.
"We are expecting to have our swimmers making it into finals in every event and hopefully we will have a chance at winning overall," Beningo said.
Swimming and diving action continues on Feb. 4 with a dual match against William Paterson University at 2 p.m. in Packer Hall.
