The Cardinals ended their regular swimming and diving season on a disappointing note, losing 159-116 to visiting Coast Guard Academy on Saturday. While the end result was unsatisfactory, the meet held sentimental value to co-captains Jeff Stein ’08 and Mike Pepi ’08. Those emotions culminated in a riveting 200 freestyle relay win for the Cards.

“I couldn’t have asked for more fulfilling closure than beating out Coast Guard’s 200 free relay by .03 seconds,” Stein said.

Strenuous workouts combined with tapering to prepare for the championships led to some of the underperformance in the loss to Coast Guard. Nevertheless, the Cards had strong performances from Dan Storms ’10 in the 200 free, Michael Bailey ’11 in the 200 individual medley, JP Valette ’10 on the three-meter board and Dave Wilkinson ’09 on the one-meter.

“We knew that Coast Guard would be a challenge, especially missing swimmers to illness and injury,” Bailey commented. “Overall we had some great swims throughout the meet. Unfortunately we lost due to depth, but this meet was more important than just the outcome. We recognize the seniors who have contributed to the team in their dedication to our swimming program. The seniors were huge contributors to our team in and out of the pool.”

A pre-meet ceremony celebrated the contributions of the co-captains, who are both very proud of the team’s accomplishments this season.

“It’ll be sad to leave Wesleyan behind, but given the strength of our underclassmen, and the energy that’s intensified year by year, I’m confident that we’re leaving the team in good hands,” Stein said.

Pepi lauded that team’s coaching.

“Mary Bolich has been an excellent and inspiring coach,” he said. “Jeff and I were lucky to be coached by someone who is so deft at handling student-athletes, someone who deserves just about all of the credit for the success of our program.”

While Pepi and Stein cherished their regular season finale, both look ahead to the looming NESCAC men’s championships.

“The NESCACs will be an eye-opening experience for a lot of people who still haven’t realized what a talented team we have this year,” Stein said. “We will send the largest contingent to nationals that Wesleyan swimming has ever witnessed.”

Pepi thinks this team is probably the strongest in a while.

“Every individual on the team is prepared to pick up some serious points at NESCAC,” he said. “Jeff [Stein], Dan [Storms], Chris [Becker], and I are going to re-break the 200 and 400 free relay records. In fact, we expect to re-set every relay record possible (200, 400, 800 free; 200, 400 medley).”