WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. - The Williams women took a decisive victory this afternoon over the Connecticut College Camels. In their first away meet of the season, the Williams women came ready to dominate, winning the competition 192 to 87.
In the 200 freestyle and 200 medley relays that bookend the meet, the Ephs took first place with strong swims for the A relays. The B relay followed that up with a second place finish in the medley relay, and a tie for second in the freestyle relay.
Gracie O'Connell was the only Williams swimmer to swim in the longest event of the meet: the 1650 freestyle. She claimed gold by over 30 seconds, a testament to her strength and reliability in the longer races.
Sophie Phelps took first in the 200 and 500 freestyle, showcasing her mid distance freestyle ability. She posted an impressive 1:53.9 in the 200 and later followed that up with a 5:12 in the 500. Phelps was racing herself for the most part in these races.
Junior
Alden White claimed gold in the 100 backstroke with a 58.33, winning the event by over 2 seconds. In the 100 breaststroke,
Irene Yang and
Ruby Groves went 1-2 with a 1:09.55 and 1:09.65 respectively.
Esme Van Orden and
Clare McDermott also went 1-2 in the next event of the meet, the 200 butterfly. Van Orden posted a 2:09.97 and McDermott touched second in a 2:14.33.
The 50 yard freestyle was the shortest event of the meet, and one of the only events that the Eph women did not win this afternoon. However, three freshmen took 2nd, 3rd and 4th place. Roster depth has been a strength for the Eph women throughout this season, and today was no exception. In the slightly longer sprint free event to follow, the 100 yd freestyle, the Ephs finished 1-2-3.
Clare McDermott took first place in a 54.24 followed by
Maggie Farley in a 54.67 and Izzy Castano in a 55.02.
Ashley Loh took the boards by storm, with minimal competition from the Camels. She claimed gold on both the 1M and 3M boards. Loh has been a reliable dual meet performer for the women this season.
Irene Yang took first in the 200 backstroke, one of her strongest events. She posted a strong 2:07.45.
Carter Roebuck took first right afterwards in the 200 breaststroke in a 2:28.57. The 200s of stroke tend to be a huge strength for the Williams women.
Annie McLean had a strong finish in the 100 butterfly, posting a 58.96 and touching in 2nd place. McLean had a notably high tempo throughout this race, one of her strengths in the pool. To conclude the individual events,
Esme Van Orden won the 200 IM with an impressive 2:09.29. She went out quickly in a 27.00 in the 50 butterfly, and came back home in a 30.74 in the freestyle leg.
The Eph women did a great job competing and bringing the energy today with smaller numbers than normal. They can look to carry this momentum into next week, with a double header. On Friday 1/23 they will compete against MIT/NYU at MIT. And on Saturday 1/24, they will travel to New York to compete against Middlebury and Hamilton.
