The men’s swimming team opened its season with a pair of victories over NESCAC rivals Trinity, 194-106, and Bates, 198-96, on Sat., Nov. 22. Led by Dan Storms ’10 and Kuan-Lin Huang ’12, Wesleyan took first place in 10 of the 16 events during the tri-meet held in Hartford.

Storms took first place in the 100- and 200-yard freestyle events with times of 49.16 and 1:48.20, respectively. He also anchored the final event of the day, the 200-yard freestyle relay, in which the Cardinals finished with a time of 1:29.41—0.2 seconds ahead of Bates and good for first.

Huang finished with a time of 28.60 in the 50-yard breaststroke and 1:01.48 in the 100-yard, taking first in both events. He also helped lead Wesleyan to a first-place finish in the 200-yard medley relay.

The Cardinals also picked up first-place finishes in the 50-yard freestyle, one- and three-meter dive, and 200-yard IM. Chris Becker ’09 took top honors in the 50 free with a time of 22.56—0.02 seconds ahead of Storms—while Michael Bailey ’11 finished the 200 IM in 2:03.62.

The Cardinals boasted the top three finishers in the three-meter dive, as Dave Wilkinson ’09 led the way and was followed by Gianfranco Galluzzo ’12 and J.P. Valette ’10. Galluzzo took first in the one-meter dive, with Wilkinson coming in second and Valette fourth.

The win was Wesleyan’s 21st in 23 all-time meets with Bates; the lone losses came in 1999-2000 and 2000-2001. In addition, the Cardinals won their 27th consecutive meet against Trinity, which has not beaten Wesleyan since Jan. 27, 1982.

The following Monday, Wesleyan traveled up I-91 in search of its first win against Amherst since 1992—and first at Amherst since 1969. The Lord Jeffs made it 17 in a row, however, with a 127-108 triumph.

Wesleyan did not record a first-place finish in any event, though there were several close finishes. The Cards’ 200 medley relay team of Dana Drost ’11, Huang, Storms and Becker clocked in at 1:39.66, just over a second over Amherst, and Becker’s time of 22.17 in the 50 free was just 0.1 seconds behind the leader. It was not enough, however, as Amherst earned its 33rd win in the last 34 meets between the Little Three rivals.

Wesleyan returns to action this weekend by hosting the two-day Cardinal Invitational. In addition to a rematch against Trinity, the Cardinals will also face Cabrini and WPI, both of which Wesleyan defeated in last season’s Invitational.

Wesleyan currently holds a 9-1 record in the Cardinal Invitational over the past three seasons, with the lone loss coming to Brandeis, 1100-1019.5, in 2006-07.