Cambridge, MA – The Williams Men's Swimming and Diving Team traveled to Cambridge for an electric tri-meet at MIT's Zesiger Center pool today. MIT, NYU, and Williams attended the meet – three of the strongest teams in NCAA Division III. The meet was scored as three distinct dual meets between each of the teams. After an energetic, close, and competitive meet, Williams triumphed over MIT (155.5– 138.5) but fell to NYU (167-133).
The Williams, MIT, and NYU swimming and diving programs have a history of close competition. In their face-off with MIT and NYU last year, the Ephmen earned two decisive wins against both teams to seal their undefeated dual meet season. That meet in 2023 marked the first Williams victory over MIT since 2015. Later, at the 2023 NCAA Division III Championships, the Ephmen tied with MIT for 5
th place while the NYU men placed 13
th.
The Ephmen brought a thrilling energy to the pool deck today and exhibited many outstanding performances throughout the meet. Head Coach
Steve Kuster was overall pleased with the day. "It was good to compete against two of the better teams in the country," commented Kuster. "There were some bright spots and areas in which we showed our strengths, and of course other areas that we have to keep working on. Happy to come away with a split."
The meet started with the 400-medley relay.
Charlie Venci '25 led off strong in the backstroke leg for the Ephs, splitting 51.75 and finishing just behind behind the MIT and NYU lead-offs. The NYU relay shot ahead in the breaststroke, but
Jacob Grover '24 had a speedy leg, splitting 57.55.
Barrett Heritage '25 took over in the butterfly, out-splitting the MIT relay in 49.23.
Oliver Schalet '25 put up an impressive time of 45.75, but the MIT and NYU 'A' relays both finished before Williams. The Williams 'A' relay placed 3
rd, and the 'B' relay of
Gabe Lee '26 (51.92),
Michael Grover '26 (58.11),
Ryan Nunez '27 (50.03), and
Theo Randall '27 (45.81) beat the 'B' MIT and NYU relays to obtain 4
th place.
Williams distance swimmers completed their second mile of the season at today's meet. The 1650 was a strong event for the Ephmen, who showcased their depth in distance freestyle. The event was won decisively by a swimmer from NYU, but the Ephs swiped the next three places.
Michael Ma '26 came in 2
nd in his debut 1650 of the season at 16:27.45. In his first 1650 for Williams,
Sam Reynoso-Williams '26 earned 3
rd with a time of 16:29.99, after a 26.80 last 50 which was the fastest of the field by 1.5 seconds.
Zach Houlton '25 captured 4
th place, with a season best time of 16:30.55.
The Williams distance swimmers also had great races in the 500. The event was swiftly won by
Ryan Nunez '27, who finished over 5 seconds before his NYU competition and earned his season best time. Nunez was even with an NYU swimmer until halfway through the race, when Ryan pulled ahead and left the competition behind.
Harrison Williams '26 had an amazing race as well, placing 3
rd and beating all MIT competitors with a well-split 4:42.71.
Michael Ma '26 finished next, earning 5
th place and a new season best time of 4:43.51.
MIT and NYU outscored Williams in today's competitive backstroke events. NYU won both the 100 and 200 backstroke, and MIT demonstrated solid performances. In the 100 backstroke,
Charlie Venci '25 touched the wall in 2
nd with a well-split 51.68.
Gabe Lee '26 and
Colin Kavanagh '27 placed 6
th and 7
th, with times of 52.22 and 53.52. Lee went on to place 3
rd in the 200 backstroke, just behind swimmers from NYU and MIT.
The 100 and 200 freestyle races were strong events for the Ephmen.
Oliver Schalet dominated the 200 freestyle, overcoming an MIT swimmer in the last 50 to win by over 1.5 seconds.
Alex Atherton '24 also had a great race, tying with an MIT swimmer for 4
th and earning his season best time at 1:43.14. The 100 freestyle was won by an MIT swimmer, but Schalet swam to an astounding 46.40 for 2
nd.
Theo Randall '27 finished next, touching in 3
rd with a speedy 46.68.
Kevin Whitworth '26 out-touched an MIT swimmer for 8
th with a time of 47.96.
Schalet later raced in the 400 IM. In true Oliver fashion, he trailed behind his MIT competitors until the last 100, when he brought it home in 54.72 and edged out an MIT swimmer for 2
nd.
The sprinters from NYU and MIT had a great showing in the 50 freestyle. MIT won the event, and an NYU swimmer just out-touched
Theo Randall '27 for 2
nd. Randall placed 3
rd in the event with an impressive 21.06.
Barrett Heritage '25 earned 6
th for the Ephs, touching the wall in a season best time of 21.37, and
Mason Green '27 placed 8
th with 21.85.
The 200 butterfly was an exciting battle between
Ryan Nunez '27 and an NYU swimmer. The two were even until the 150, when Nunez outsplit his competitor by 1.7 seconds in the last 50 to take victory.
Nathaniel Tunggal '25 swam a gritty race with a strong back half to a 4
th place finish at 1:54.21.
NYU swimmers excelled in the 100 butterfly today, earning 3 of the top 5 places.
Barrett Heritage '25 had a strong race against the winning NYU swimmer, placing 2
nd with a time of 49.60.
Noah Labich '25 earned 6
th place for Williams, with a solid time of 51.54.
MIT and NYU were extremely strong competitors breaststroke, with NYU winning both the 100 and 200 breaststroke events.
Jacob Grover '24 placed 4
th in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 58.64. His brother
Michael Grover '24 was close behind, earning 6
th place for Williams with a time of 58.94.
Kevin Jiang '26 out-touched an MIT swimmer for 8
th place with a time of 59.45. Later, Jiang placed 5
th in the 200 breaststroke, finishing in 2:11.41.
Jacob Grover earned 7
th (2:12.21), and
Michael Grover swiped 8
th (2:13.20).
Haochen Liu '27 and Gabe Swisher-Rosa '27 exhibited great performances in the diving wells today. Liu won both the 3-meter and 1-meter competitions. The first-year earned 269.8 points on the 1-meter and 288.25 points on the 3-meter, marking Liu's first regional qualifying score. To qualify for regionals, he will need to make an additional cut. Swisher-Rosa also had an impressive day on the boards, placing 6th in the 3-meter with 184.75 points and 5th in the 1-meter with 184.5 points.
The final event of the meet was the 200 freestyle relay. The Williams 'A' relay had a solid race, with
Barrett Heritage '25 leading off in 21.89,
Gabe Lee '26 speeding in at 21.06,
Ryan Nunez '27 finishing in 21.21, and
Theo Randall '27 anchoring in 20.75. The overall time of 1:24.91 bought the Ephs a 3
rd place finish, behind the 'A' relays of MIT and NYU.
This was a lively meet with many close races, and the Ephmen rose up to the challenge to put on strong performances. Today's meet places the Williams Mens' Swimming and Diving Team at 4-1 for the dual meet season.
The Ephmen will have a quick turn-around, as they gear up to compete against Hamilton and Middlebury in tomorrow's tri-meet at Clinton, NY. This will be the final dual meet of the season for Williams, as next weekend they will kick-off their championship season with the Middlebury Invitational.
