Clinton, NY – The Williams Men's Swimming and Diving ended their dual meet season with a pair of wins against Hamilton and Middlebury today. The tri-meet was scored as three individual dual meets between each of the teams. Williams soundly won on both fronts, finishing with a scores of 189.5-101.5 against Hamilton and 193-107 against Middlebury. These victories bring the Ephmen to a 6-1 record for the dual meet season.
After yesterday's intense meet against MIT and NYU in Cambridge, the Ephs put together strong races in Clinton, NY today. The Ephmen brought great energy to the pool deck, and many swimmers competed outside their typical event ranges. Eph head coach
Steve Kuster enjoyed the meet and is excited for what's to come. "It was nice to mix up some events and win the last 2 dual meets of the season," said Kuster. "I'm looking forward to watching this team throughout championship season starting on Friday."
The first event was the 200 medley relay, which was championed by the Williams 'A' relay of
Charlie Venci '25 (23.93),
Michael Grover '26 (26.11),
Barrett Heritage (22.47), and
Theo Randall (20.85). Their overall time of 1:33.36 was far ahead of the field, winning by over 2 seconds. The Williams 'B' relay of
Oliver Schalet '25 (24.16),
Kevin Jiang '26 (27.65),
Ryan Nunez '27 (22.81), and
Colin Kavanagh '27 (21.51) placed 4
th, finishing with a solid time of 1:36.13 and beating the 'B' relays from Middlebury and Hamilton.
The meet continued with the 1000 freestyle. As usual, Williams distance swimmers got the job done, sweeping 1
st through 3
rd.
Carter Anderson '25 had an outstanding race and won the event with a time of 9:46.27. This was Anderson's season best time in the 1000, ranking him at 4
th this season in the NESCAC and securing his spot in the A final of the NESCAC Championships in February.
Michael Ma '26 placed 2
nd after an amazing swim, and his season best time of 9:48.18 ranks him at 6
th in the NESCAC so far.
Sam Reynoso-Williams '27 completed the 1-2-3 sweep for Williams, touching the wall in 3
rd with a time of 10:06.61.
The 200 freestyle was won comfortably by a Hamilton first-year, and 2
nd place was earned by last year's NESCAC runner-up from Middlebury. However, the Ephmen demonstrated depth in this event, capturing 3
rdthrough 5
th place.
Ryan Nunez '27 had a strong race to finish 3
rd in 1:44.29.
Nathaniel Tunggal '25, known to swim butterfly and IM events, earned 4
th in 1:44.64. Next, revered sprinter
Theo Randall '27 touched the wall in 5
th at 1:45.22.
Later in the meet, the Ephmen dominated the 500 freestyle with a 1-2-3-4 performance.
Gabe Lee '26, who typically specializes in backstroke events, had an incredible swim. Lee won the event by a large margin and earned a new personal best time of 4:43.49, which ranks at 13
th in the NESCAC for this season.
Theo Randall '27 touched the wall in 2
nd at 4:50.57, a new personal best time by 7 seconds for the sprinter.
Williams sprinters look forward to this tri-meet each year, as it is the sole dual meet with stroke 50s.
Ev Nichol '23 swam a speedy 50 backstroke, winning the event in 24.24.
Noah Labich '25, a butterfly and IM specialist, swam his first 50 backstroke for Williams today and placed 5
th at 25.81.
Colin Kavanagh '26 followed, earning 6
th place in 26.12.
The 50 breaststroke was a tight battle between
Michael Grover '26 and a swimmer from Hamilton.
Michael Grover emerged victorious, out-touching his Hamilton competitor by 0.02 and winning the event in 26.68. His brother,
Jacob Grover '24, finished in 4
th with a time of 27.09. Next,
Charlie Venci '25 tied with a Hamilton swimmer for 6
th place in 27.73.
Barrett Heritage '25 led the field in the 50 butterfly, winning once again with a time of 22.90.
Ryan Nunez '27 won 4
th place for the Ephs in 23.60, finishing just behind two swimmers from Hamilton and Middlebury.
Noah Labich '25 tied with
Ev Nichol '23 to place 6
th at 23.83.
The 50 freestyle was an exciting race, with strong competitors from Hamilton.
Oliver Schalet '25 put together a solid race, but was out-touched by a Hamilton swimmer for 1
st. His finish at 21.82 was just 0.05 seconds short of the winning time, and 0.03 seconds ahead of the Hamilton swimmer in 3
rd.
Harrison Williams '26 also swam well, and his 7
th place time of 22.35 was just 0.01 seconds off his season best.
In the diving well,
Haochen Liu '27 won both the 1-meter and 3-meter competitions. The first-year also earned his second Regionals qualifying score, after scoring above the cut at MIT yesterday. This performance secures his place at Diving Regionals after NESCACs in February. Gabe Swisher-Rosa '27 had an incredible day as well, placing 5
th in the 3-meter with a score of 163.20, and 5
th in the 1-meter with a score of 175.40. This 1-meter score marked a new personal best for the first-year.
Back on the swimming side of the meet, the Ephmen had a great showing in the 100 breaststroke. As expected,
Jacob Grover '24 won the event with a well-executed 58.65.
Oliver Schalet '25 gave him a good race, finishing just 0.03 seconds later in 2
nd at 58.68.
Nathaniel Tunggal '25 touched in at 5
th (1:00.09), while
Charlie Venci '25 captured 7
th for Williams (1:00.61).
Hamilton boasted several fast times in the 100 freestyle. The event was won decisively by one of their first-year swimmers, but Williams backstroker
Colin Kavanagh '27 secured 2
nd for Williams with a 48.31.
Barrett Heritage '25 stopped the clock at 49.21 for a 6
th place finish, and
Michael Grover '26 finished 9
th at 49.80.
Today's 100 backstroke did not contain the usual group from Williams.
Harrison Williams '26, known to excel in mid-distance freestyle and IM events, had an energetic race with a Middlebury swimmer. He was out-touched by 0.1 seconds but placed 2
nd with an impressive 53.48 in his off-event.
While
Harrison Williams handled the 100 backstroke, Williams backstrokers
Gabe Lee '26 and
Aidan Lee '27 took the reins in the 100 butterfly.
Gabe Lee had an incredible swim, touching the wall just behind the event winner from Hamilton and placing 2
nd in 52.05. In his first meet back from sickness, Aiden Lee won 4
th place for the Ephs with a solid time of 54.13.
The final individual event of the meet was the 100 IM, which was won by the reining NESCAC IM Champion
Oliver Schalet '25. Schalet led the field from the beginning and finished swiftly in 52.43.
Colin Kavanagh '27 followed in 2
nd, with an amazing 52.94. A Hamilton swimmer finished in 3
rd, but Williams showcased its IM prowess by swiping 4
th (
Nathaniel Tunggal '25, 53.56), 5
th (
Harrison Williams '26, 54.00), 6
th (
Charlie Venci '25, 54.51), and 7
th (
Jacob Grover '24, 55.15) places.
Hamilton and Middlebury put together speedy relays for the closing 200 freestyle relay. The Williams 'A' relay finished 3
rd, with
Ev Nichol '23 leading off in 22.64,
Barrett Heritage '25 speeding in at 21.53,
Theo Randall '27 stopping the clock at 21.22, and
Ryan Nunez '27 anchoring in 21.53. The 'B' relay of
Harrison Williams '26 (22.31),
Kevin Whitworth '26 (22.31),
Gabe Lee '26 (22.11), and
Noah Labich '25 (21.81) earned 5
th in 1:28.54.
A highlight of this last event was the debut race by first-year diver
Haochen Liu. Liu, who swam occasionally for his high school team, led off the Williams "D-lay" with an astonishing 23.71, earning many screams and cheers from his ecstatic teammates on deck. The Williams 'D' relay was exhibitioned, but their finishing time of 1:32.86 was the 9
th fastest of the day.
This Friday, the Ephmen will begin their championship season at the Middlebury Invitational. There, 7 team members will suit up to swim their final races of the season. Today, the Williams Men's Swimming and Diving Team closes off their dual meet season with a 6-1 record, many accomplishments to be proud of, and a whole lot to look forward to.
