The swimming and diving team hosted Colgate University in its home opener on Saturday, splitting the meet with a 185-109 victory for the men and a 174-125 loss for the women. The Leopards collected 15 first-place finishes across both teams.
On the men’s side, several freshmen made key contributions to the win. Justin Tucker secured gold in the 200-yard butterfly and 500-yard freestyle with times of 1:55.14 and 4:44.32, respectively. Gregory Yukhvid snagged the win in the 100-yard butterfly at 51.84, Leo Frein reigned victorious in the 100-yard backstroke at 53.21 and Augustus Sefcik elapsed 47.66 in the 100-yard freestyle for the first-place finish.
“On the 500, I had teammates that all helped push each other,” Tucker said. “Both wins were special to me, but more for myself, I was doing it for the team.”
Tucker, who had been rehabbing from a summer season shoulder injury, used the month of pool time before the season to gel into his new team.
“Right when we got back in the pool, we were all back to working hard,” he said. “We’re all very in it to win it.”
Senior Tommy Weber reeled in a 50-yard freestyle win with a time of 21.72. Juniors Alexander Reihl and Alexander Zoldan also managed victories in the 100-yard breaststroke and 1,000-yard freestyle with times of 59.66 and 10:00.66, respectively.
Junior Landon Orth capped off the day by breaking his own pool record in the 3-meter dive, accomplishing a score of 309.90 and earning Patriot League Diver of the Week honors.
For the women, junior Mia Guster left victorious in the 1-meter and 3-meter dives, scoring 249.98 and 244.95, respectively. Senior Katie Hensell followed right behind in both events, scoring 232.95 and 244.80 for second place.
Freshman Frankie DiGiovanni added a win in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:13.87 and managed second in the 1000-yard freestyle, clocking in at 11:03.21.
Freshman Mya Uku, senior Isabella Van Ess, freshman Josie Van Schaften and junior Natalie Johnson finished second in the 200-yard relay, timing in at 1:51.13.
“I was recovering from a little bit of an illness, so I didn’t do as well as I had anticipated,” Van Ess said. “I think we all did a really great job in the relay, especially, and we competed very well against Colgate.”
Van Ess also came second in the 200-yard breaststroke, finishing at 2:26.77.
As a captain, Van Ess said she has been serving as a “liaison between the coaches and the swimmers.”
“I’m more of an official role model in terms of organizing stuff,” she said. “My role is the same in terms of motivation and team atmosphere and building team bonding.”
The Leopards return to the pool on Nov. 8 in Annapolis, Maryland, taking on the Naval Academy, Bucknell University and American University in a quad meet.
“We have the potential to be a powerhouse,” Tucker said. “We have to keep the ball rolling no matter what happens.”
