Williamstown, Mass.-- In the first matchup of a weekend doubleheader at Samuelson-Muir Pool Men's Swimming and Diving notched a win over NEWMAC opponent Springfield. While the Pride proved extremely strong in the diving events, they were less of a match for the Ephs in the pool, leading to a 189-106 victory for the hosts. Williams moves to 5-2 on the year while Springfield falls to 6-5 overall.
Leading the way for the Ephs in their penultimate home contest was Williams' strong senior class. Paul Dyrkacz would turn in a series of strong individual performances to help spark the overall team victory, winning both the 200 yd butterfly (1:57.63) and 500 yd freestyle (4:33.51). In the 200 Dyrkacz was ably backed up by first year Jon Yin (2nd, 1:59.48) and sophomore Will Brown (4th, 2:01.72). In the 500 Dyrkacz was the first of three Williams swimmers into the wall, making it a clean sweep at the finish for the Ephs. First Year Alex McCarter would take second place with a time of 4:49.99 while Brown would round things off in third place in 4:54.39. Although not in scoring positions, Williams also had the next three fastest times in the event based on the efforts of Adrien Downey (4:54.65), Daniel Druckman (4:55.95) and Peter McDonald (4:57.87).
Also swimming strong was senior co-captain Tom Vieth, who turned in the fastest time in the 200 yd Individual Medley (1:56.58). Williams once again showed their tremendous depth by posting the top seven times in the event over two heats. Next up for the Ephs was sophomore Christian Gronbeck (1:59.72), followed by McCarter (2:00.64), first year Jake Tamposi (2:02.01), sophomore Thad Ricotta (2:03.60), rookie Nels Snyder (2:04.62), and senior Chris Picardo (2:06.28). With a second meet looming the next day, Head Coach Steven Kuster utilized the opportunity to keep his swimmers fresh and energized by placing them in a variety of different lineups, ensuring competitive swims from top to bottom throughout the entire meet. Keeping the ball rolling for the senior class, Philip Treesh won the 200 yd backstroke with a time of 2:00.12. Classmate John Armstrong placed third in 2:01.68 while sophomore Timothy Lattimer swam hard to take 4th (2:04.74).
The Ephs also got a series of strong contributions from their underclassmen as well.
First year Jake Tamposi was a double event winner, taking home top honors in both the 100 yd (59:30) and 200 yd (2:10.95) breaststroke. Senior Daeus Jorento placed third in the 100 with a time of 1:00.91. While first year Jon Yin was third in the 200 (2:16.08). Sophomore Andrew Nemeth also won two events, including the 100 yd freestyle with a time of 47.91. Jorento placed next highest for the Ephs in third (49.07). Nemeth also earned the top spot in the 100 yd butterfly, winning the event in 52.46 and leading a Williams sweep alongside first year Knox Young (53.60) and junior Sean Sutherland (54.13).
Sophomore Thad Ricotta led an all-underclassman sweep of the 1000 yd freestyle. Behind Ricotta's winning time of 9:44.89 were Sutherland (10:07.49) and first year Peter McDonald (10:12.17). Sophomore Christian Gronbeck (1:44.82) led a sweep of the 200 yd freestyle, alongside John Armstrong (1:45.55) and first year Nels Snyder (1:46.96). First year Seth Montgomery, meanwhile, won the 100 yd backstroke with a time of 54.42. First year Alex McCarter kept the winning going for the rookies, earning first place in the 50 yd freestyle (22.06). In second place was classmate Knox Young (22.17) while senior Chris Faux placed third (22.19).
In the diving events sophomore Rohan Bhatt stood tall against a stacked field of seven male divers. In the 3 meter board Bhatt earned the top spot with a score of 315.90, while in the 1 m competition he was forced to settle for third place (273.00) less than two points out of second place.
The Ephs will now have less than 24 hours turnaround time as they face off against NESCAC opponents Tufts and Wesleyan at Muir-Samuelson pool. The meet begins at 1:00 pm on Sunday January 20.
