Williams Men's Swim and Dive Victorious in Season Opener Against Springfield

Williamstown, MA - The Williams Men's Swimming and Diving Team had a dominant performance in their first dual meet of the season against Springfield College on Saturday. The Ephmen captured first place in all events and won the meet with a final score of 189-95. The meet marked an exhilarating beginning of the season for the Ephmen, who went undefeated in dual meets last season.
 
Head Coach Steve Kuster is optimistic about the upcoming season and commented on Saturday's electric atmosphere. "I think there has been a lot of anticipation and excitement for the beginning of the season. The guys did a great job of riding that wave of excitement and creating a great environment today," said Kuster. "There were some good performances today, which is promising for the rest of the season."  
 
The Ephmen started off strong in the first event with an inspiring 200 medley relay performance, where Williams earned 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd, and 4^th places. The winning relay began with junior Charlie Venci in the backstroke leg at 24.38, followed by senior Jacob Grover in the breastroke at 25.89, junior Barrett Heritage in the butterfly at 22.61, and finally first-year Theo Randall in the 50 free at 20.63.
 


 In the 1000, sophomore Michael Ma swept the field with a time of 9:56.99. First-year Henry Campbell and junior Zach Houlton took 2^nd and 3^rd place for the event, with times of 10:01.25 and 10:05.63 respectively. The 200 freestyle proved to be another stellar event for the Ephs, with sophomore Gabe Lee winning the event at 1:46.34. Sophomore Kevin Whitworth placed 2^nd with a time of 1:47.26, and junior Carter Anderson battled from behind in the second 100 to win 3^rd place at 1:47.94.
 
           
Junior Oliver Schalet was victorious in the 100 backstroke, with an impressive time of 53.31. First-year Aiden Lee placed 2^nd with a time of 54.01. The 100 breaststroke was an exciting race, with sophomores Michael Grover and Kevin Jiang battling for 1^st place. Grover won the event in his first-ever collegiate meet with a 1:00.03, and Jiang snagged 2^nd place at 1:00.38. The first section of the meet was closed out with the 50 freestyle, won by junior Barrett Heritage with an impressive 21.72 in his first meet since 2022.
 
           
In the diving well, first-years Haochen Liu and Gabe Swisher-Rosa had stellar performances for their first Williams meet. In the 1-meter, Liu earned 2^nd place with a score of 255.60, just 2.77 points behind 1^st place. Liu then excelled in the 3-meter, comfortably winning the event with a score of 268.35. Swisher-Rosa also had an impressive showing, scoring 3^rd in the 1-meter with a score of 144.90 and 3^rd in the 3-meter with a score of 166.65.
 
Junior Oliver Schalet won his second event of the meet with a speedy 46.99 in the 100 freestyle. First-year Theo Randall was close behind, placing 2^nd with a 47.33.
 
The 200 backstroke was dominated by first-years Colin Kavanagh and Aiden Lee. Kavanagh took 1^st with a time of 1:56.41, and Lee came in 2^nd at 1:58.16. In the 200 breaststroke, senior All-American Jacob Grover cruised to victory with a winning time of 2:10.14. He was followed by junior Nathaniel Tunggal (2:14.77), senior Cole Mason (2:16.97), and junior Charlie Venci (2:18.82).
 
The distance swimmers prevailed in the 500 freestyle, sweeping 1^st through 5^th place. First-year Ryan Nunez comfortably captured his first win with a well-split time of 4:46.54. After a close battle, sophomores Harrison Williams and Michael Ma took 2^nd and 3^rd places. They were succeeded by juniors Carter Anderson (4:55.65) and Zach Houlton (4:56.48).
 
Junior Barrett Heritage won his second event in the 100 butterfly at 51.00. His classmate Noah Labich swiped 2^nd place at 51.99 after a nail-biting battle with a Springfield swimmer. There was a lot of promise in the 200 IM as well, with first-year Henry Campbell winning his first collegiate event at a 2:00.79. 2^nd and 3^rd places went to first-year Aiden Lee (2:01.99) and junior Noah Labich (2:03.40).
 
The meet concluded with the 200 freestyle relay. The Ephmen dominated the field, the winning relay clocking in at 1:25.83 and boasting sophomore Harrison Williams (22.34), sophomore Kevin Whitworth (21.63), first year Theo Randall with an outstanding 20.68, and junior Barrett Heritage (21.18). Williams also secured 2^nd place in this event, with junior Oliver Schalet (21.97), first-year Ryan Nunez (21.49), sophomore Gabe Lee (21.83), and senior Ev Nichol (21.90) contributing to a time of 1:27.19.
 
Overall, the Ephmen had an impressive showing in their first meet of the 2023-24 season. The Ephmen will compete next on December 9^th against Wesleyan, Tufts, and WPI in Middletown.