Captain Lucas Tiziani ‘11 dives in during the 400-yard Medley Relay.
Last Saturday, the Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving teams competed against nationally ranked Middlebury College. The competition itself was in an unusual format, consisting of a 16-event dual meet, 50-yard stroke races and the 100-yard Individual Medley, events rarely seen in collegiate competitions. Although commonplace in the NESCAC Championships, the conference in which Middlebury competes, Union does not swim these events in the Liberty League nor the UNYSCSA Championships.
Even with the atypical competition format, the Dutchmen fared well against the Panthers, securing a victory with a score of 151-147 and achieving a win against Middlebury for only the second time in the team’s recent history. The Dutchwomen put up a good fight against the Panthers’ deep squad, but fell 97-201.
Reflecting on the men’s exciting victory, Head Coach Scott Felix remarked, “It was a great win for our team. Middlebury has some of the best swimmers in the country, including the Men’s National Swimmer of the Year from 2010. It seemed like every race came down to the finish and our men’s team ended up on the right side of enough races to pull out a hard-fought win.”
Beginning their winning ways with a distance event, the men’s team picked up a victory in the 1000-yard freestyle, with Adam Herzog ‘14 taking first with a time of 10:09.02. Tim Cameron ‘14 out-swam Middlebury’s Mac Staben, achieving a second place finish.
The 200 freestyle was easily won by Zack Wahl ‘13, clocking in at a time of 1:47.33, over two seconds ahead of the competitors. Wahl has received Liberty League recognition two weeks in a row and three times so far this season for his impressive victories.
In the sprint events, Brian Scarlett ‘11 went on to win the 50 yard backstroke, touching out Middlebury’s Kazu Asaga with a .11 second lead (25.77). Alex Boyd ‘12 continued the trend by winning the 50 yard breaststroke at 28.13.
Ian Drillinger ‘12 won the one meter diving competition with a score of 292.95. Both this victory and his later win on the three meter board, with a score of 253.49, again ensured National Championship consideration.
For the longer stroke distances, Scarlett secured another victory in the 200-yard backstroke, winning with a time of 1:59.08. It was his third dual meet win in the event this season. Michael Mooney ‘12 concluded a close race with Middlebury’s Harry Anixter by grabbing a second place finish.
The 200-yard breaststroke was also an exciting win, with Boyd out-touching the competitors with a time of 2:17.38. Herzog finished up the Dutchmen’s succe
Brian Scarlett ‘11 was named Liberty Leauge Co-Swimmer of the Week.
sses with a victory in 500-yard freestyle, clocking in at a time of 4:56.01.
The Dutchwomen began their competition with an exciting finish to the 400 Yard Medley Relay, consisting of teammates Sarah Bradner ‘14, Kaleigh Ahern ‘13, Andrea Marois ‘11, and Priscilla Wright ‘12. A couple of seconds behind at the start of the freestyle leg of the race, Wright closed the gap, finishing only .49 seconds behind Middlebury’s 4:07.18 winning time. Both Bradner and Wright received Liberty League recognitions for their victories the week before.
The Dutchwomen saw another second place finish in the 1000 yard freestyle with Danielle Young ‘14 coming in at a time of 11:05.22. Likewise, Lexi Bascom ‘12 finished second in the 50 yard backstroke, .35 seconds behind Middlebury’s Rachael Curtiss (29.59). Ahern continued the trend, achieving second in the 50 -yard breaststroke, finishing a close race only .26 seconds away from the Middlebury top time of 32.51.
The first win was in the 50 yard freestyle, with Priscilla Wright ‘12 winning with a time of 25.13. In the 100 yard freestyle, Young and Wright tied for second—a trend commonplace among Union sprinters—with a time of 56.55.
Bradner took second in the 200 yard backstroke, closing the gap with a time of 2:12.23. Kaleigh Ahern ‘13 secured a first place victory in the 200 yard breaststroke, out-touching Middlebury’s Jessie Ward with a time of 2:30.32.
Finishing the meet on a good note, the 200 yard freestyle team of Wright, Erica Fugger ‘12, Young, and Diana Fletcher ‘13, took a close victory over Middlebury, clocking in at a time of 1:41.50.
The Dutchmen improved their record with a 3-1-3 finish, while the Dutchwomen currently stand at 2-5.
The two teams travel to Hamilton College on Saturday to face off against their former-Liberty League Rival at 2 p.m.
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