Ephmen's swim and dive triumph at Quad meet

COMPLETE RESULTS

Middletown, CT – Williams men's swim and dive faced off against Wesleyan, Tufts, and WPI today in a quad meet. The team treated the meet as a midseasion by suiting and drop tapering for the few days leading up to the meet. The preparation paid off and the Ephmen had a fantastic weekend, winning all 3 dual meets. In regard to the success of the meet, head coach Kuster believes "the drop taper is helpful in terms of freshening up with a day or two of rest. Going up against one of the best teams in the league always provides a great opportunity to compete."

The Ephmen started the meet off with a win from Jacob Grover '24 in the 50 breaststroke. Grover destroyed the field winning by over 0.3 seconds and finished with a time of 25.38, just 0.01 off of his best. Close behind were Liam Sullivan '23 and Kevin Jiang '26 who finished 4th and 7th.

Following the breaststroke, Zeb Hart '23, Ev Nichol '23.5, and Noah Labich '25 took the blocks for the 50 butterfly. The trio outswam the field and placed 1st, 2nd and 4th. Hart won the event in a blazing 22.20.

Alex Atherton '24 won a hard fought battle in the 500 freestyle in 4:33.57, just out touching teammate Harrison Williams '26 for first place. Michael Ma '26, Carter Anderson '25, Sasha Shashkov '23.5, and Zach Houlton '24.5 rounded out the top ten places for the Ephs, a testament to the team's depth.

Representing the Ephs in the 50 backstroke were Ev Nichol, Nick Whitcomb '23, Timmy Page '23, and Gabe Lee '26. In another display of the team's depth and speed, the group took 4 of the top 5 spots in the event. Nichol won the event in an incredible 22.54, a best time by 0.22 seconds and the fastest in the conference this season.

Rounding out the 50s, Oliver Schalet '25, Zeb Hart and Quinton Hastings '24 faced stiff competition and finished 2nd, 3rd, and 5th for 11 total points in freestyle. Schalet finished 2nd in 21.05, only 0.05 away from his lifetime best time.

At the other end of the pool, the divers were tearing it up on the boards. Kobe Tray '23 won both the 1 and 3 meter boards, and remains undefeated for the season. Ben Shapiro '23 finished 6th on 1 meter and 5th on 3 meter. When asked for his thoughts about the meet, Tray humbly said "I thought I dove pretty well for where I am in the season and I wouldn't have been able to perform as well as I did without the support of my teammates who I am very proud of"

Again in the 100 butterfly were Noah Labich, Zeb Hart, and Ev Nichol. The three finished 2nd through 4th with Labich beating out Hart by 0.01 in an incredibly exciting race.

Oliver Schalet left the rest of the field in his wake in the 400 IM, winning by nearly 4 seconds and in a personal best time of 3:58.65. This is Schalet's best time by over 9.5 seconds and his first 400 IM under 4 minutes. Nathaniel Tunggal was the 2nd-placing Eph and finished 4th with a lifetime best time by an astounding 14 seconds.

Ephmen took 5 of the top 8 spots in the 200 freestyle led by Alex Atherton in 1:41.00. Close behind Atherton were teammates Harrison Wiliams, Zach Houlton, Michael Ma '26, and Kevin Whitworth '26.

The Williams breaststroke cohort demonstrated their strength once again the 100. Jacob Grover went out fast and won the event in 54.34, over 2 seconds ahead of the rest of the field. Liam Sullivan took 2nd in 56.47 followed by Kevin Jiang '26 in 5th and Dylan Aldana-Taylor '25 in 6th.

The Ephmen dominated the 100 backstroke with a 1-2-3 sweep. Nick Whitcomb touched ahead of teammates Gabe Lee and Timmy Page. Whitcomb finished in 49.61, the only time under 50 seconds and led the race with the only 50 split under 24 seconds. The fastest back-half 50 came from Williams first-year Gabe Lee at 25.59.

Schalet and Hastings once again represented the Ephs in the 100 freestyle and finished 2nd and 4th in 46.04 and 47.00, both season bests.

In the final breaststroke event of the day, Jacob Grover won the event in 2:01.91. Liam Sullivan finished 5th and Kevin Kiang placed 6th with a lifetime best time by over 3 seconds.

The 200 butterfly showed the Ephs some tough competition, but the team stepped up to the challenge. Nathaniel Tunggal, Noah Labich, and Alex Atherton finished 3rd, 4th, and 5th, once again all with season-best times.

In the final individual event of the meet, 4 Ephs took on the 200 backstroke. Gabe Lee placed 2nd with a 1:48.92, a personal best time by over a second. Timmy Page also swam a personal best time of 1:50.83 and placed 4th. Nick Whitcomb, and Harrison Williams rounded out the Williams top 8.

The only relay of the meet was the 200 freestyle relay. Ephmen placed 2nd and 3rd. Ev Nichol, Oliver Schalet, Quinton Hastings, and Zab Hart finished in a 1:23.73. Schalet had the fastest split of the relay with a 20.52.

Coach Kuster said following the meet, "I saw some good things today and I feel good about the work we've put in up to this point" The Ephmen will keep training through the month and into the new year as they prepare for January meets and then championship season.

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