Middletown, CT-- Men's Swimming and Diving traveled to Little Three rival Wesleyan on Saturday looking to bounce back from a tough loss to Amherst the previous weekend. The trimeet against the host Cardinals as well as the visiting Tufts Jumbos proved to be just what the Ephs needed, as they cruised to impressive wins over both squads. Williams defeated Wesleyan 236-52, while defeating Tufts 201-93.
First year Christian Gronbeck had perhaps his most impressive showing of the year in capturing two individual events, the 1650 yd freestyle and 200 yd backstroke. In the 1650 Gronbeck led a Williams sweep, finishing alongside junior John Armstrong and fellow rookie Adrien Downey. Gronbeck's time of 16:19.92 was over 15 seconds ahead of Armstrong (16:36.32), who in turn was a further 4 seconds ahead of Downey (16:40.70). All three Williams swimmers finished at least 15 seconds ahead of their nearest competitor from either Tufts or Wesleyan. Head Coach Steven Kuster was especially proud of Gronbeck's performance, as well of that of first year Sarah Thompson on the women's side, in the 1650, noting that it was one of "a few stand out swims" of the afternoon.
First year Andrew Nemeth would continue the string of strong performances from Williams' young guns as he cruised to victory in the 100 yd backstroke with a time of 54.05. Junior Tom Vieth would place second with a time of 54.91, while first year Daniel Druckman came in fourth with a time of 55.76. Nemeth also won the 200 yd breaststroke with a time of 2:11.99. Sophomore Eric Liao was the next closest Williams finisher in third (2:16.88). First year Will Brown also had an impressive meet, winning the 200 yd freestyle by a second over junior David Taylor. Brown finished in 1:45.34, while Taylor finished in 1:46.36. First year Thad Ricotta placed fourth in the event with a time of 1:48.44. In the 500 yd freestyle Ricotta would take second with a time of 4:51.50, while Brown would come in third in 4:56.40.
Junior Paul Dyrkacz led another impressive Williams sweep in the 400 yd IM, alongside classmates Chris Corbett and David Taylor. Dyrkacz finished in 4:05.97, while Corbett (4:10.45) and Taylor (4:15.73) were close behind. Swimming in an exhibition heat, and therefore not eligible to score points in the event, was first year Timothy Lattimer, who turned in another impressive swim with a time of 4:11.48. Dyrkacz would finish as runner up in two additional events, the 200 yd butterfly (1:59.48), and the 100 yd freestyle (48.13). Taylor would finish third in the 100 (49.04), just outtouching classmate Daeus Jorento by 1 hundredth of a second. Jorento finished with a time of 49.05. Jorento would pick up a win of his own in the 100 yd breaststroke, leading yet another Williams sweep. Behind his winning time of 1:00.14 were senior Greg McElroy (1:00.44) and Eric Liao (1:02.00).
In the 50 yd freestyle, an extremely close event in last weekend's meet against Amherst, junior Graham Righi placed second with a time of 22.02, a tenth of a second faster than his previous week's performance. He was followed up by classmates Tom Vieth in third (22.26) and Philip Treeshin fourth (22.55). Vieth would earn an individual victory in the 100 yd butterfly, finishing with a time of 56.25. Senior Stuart Horgan finished in second in the event with a time of 53.51.
In the diving events first year Rohan Bhatt had an extremely successful afternoon in outscoring Tufts sophomore Johann Schmidt, the reigning NESCAC champion in the 1m event, on both the 1m and 3m board. In the 1m Bhatt won the event with a score of 293.70, with Schmidt (286.05) filling the gap between him and third placed senior Alex Long (255.90). The same order would hold in the 3m event, with Bhatt first (304.15), Schmidt second (287.65) and Long third (257.45). Coach Kuster praised the divers, noting that they "performed exceptionally well and carried the day for us."
The two impressive wins should signal that the Ephs have put their loss to Amherst the previous weekend firmly behind them. The team now has to refocus once again as they look towards their final two dual meets of the season, at Springfield on January 21 and home against Middlebury on January 28.
