The College’s swimming and diving teams returned from a week of training in Aruba to compete in a tri-meet at West Chester University last weekend.
Both the men’s and women’s teams were 5-0 coming into the competition, ranked seventh and 10th, respectively, in Division III, as they squared off against Johns Hopkins University and the hosting Golden Rams.
“We knew going in that West Chester and Johns Hopkins are both very strong and talented teams,” junior Mike Caputo said, “We trained real hard over winter break both at TCNJ and in Aruba, and made sure we stayed mentally tough throughout the training and heading into the meet. We knew we were the underdogs and used that to motivate us even more.”
The women fell to fourth-ranked Johns Hopkins and West Chester University with scores of 131-239 and 107-251, ending their streak of 17 consecutive victories in dual meets.
Senior Laura Pierce posted outstanding finishes in the defeat, taking first in the women’s 100-yard butterfly (57.18), in the women’s 50-yard freestyle (24.34) and in the women’s 100-yard butterfly (53.07).
The College also dominated the women’s three-meter diving event with junior Danica Roskos finishing first and sophomore Sabrina Lucchesi finishing second with final scores of 282.23 and 275.93, respectively.
The men’s team took a tough loss at the hands of Johns Hopkins Unversity, losing 97-253, but fought a tight battle against West Chester University and came out the victor, with a final score of 188-180. Senior T.J. Burns compiled a strong day, finishing first in the men’s three-meter diving event with a score of 335.55, and second in the men’s one-meter diving with a final score of 310.05. The men also did well in the relays, finishing second in the 200-yard medley, the 200-yard freestyle and the 400-yard freestyle relays.
“We have to stay focused going forward and not get ahead of ourselves,” junior Adam Schneider said. “We have a tough schedule to finish out the season.”
The College will return to the water on Saturday, Jan. 21 against William Paterson University in Wayne, N.J.
