Like the men, the women’s swimming team earned a pair of season-opening victories over Trinity and Bates on Nov. 22. Wesleyan handily defeated Trinity 221-78, and also earned a convincing 179-119 victory over the Bobcats.

The Cardinals boasted the first-place finisher in 11 of the afternoon’s 16 events, with Janine Zaltsman ’11 and Carly Bollinger ’09 leading the way. Zaltsman took first in the 50- and 100-yard freestyle events with times of 25.43 and 54.95, respectively, while Bollinger had the top time in the 100-yard breaststroke and 200-yard individual medley (IM).

Bollinger’s time of 1:13.57 in the 100 breast was nearly 1.5 seconds faster than the second-place finisher. She clocked in at 2:18.13 for the 200 IM, an event in which she holds the team record.

Both swimmers helped lead Wesleyan to a first-place finish (by nearly five seconds) in the 200-yard medley relay to open the afternoon, and Zaltsman also swam the final portion of the 200-yard freestyle relay to secure the Cardinals’ win in the event.

Wesleyan had five other first-place finishers on the afternoon. Caitlin Bethlahmy ’11 took first in the 1000-yard freestyle with a time of 11:02.28, and Julia Fram ’12 clocked in at 35.25 in the 50-yard breaststroke. Cara Madden ’11, the team record-holder in the 50-yard backstroke, took first in this event with a time of 29.33. Rachel Cohen ’12 (1:02.36 in the 100-yard butterfly) and Emily Kodis ’11 (28.80 in the 50-yard butterfly) also secured top finishes for the Cards. Wesleyan has now won six straight against both teams.

The following Monday, Wesleyan traveled to Amherst to inaugurate its Little Three schedule. The Lord Jeffs, who finished second in the 2007-08 NCAA Championships, secured first-place points in the meet’s first 10 events to win their 15th straight against Wesleyan, 132-89. Madden had an outstanding performance in the 100 back, coming in just 0.06 seconds behind the first-place finisher.

Wesleyan returns to action this weekend in the two-day Cardinal Invitational. WPI and Cabrini, which Wesleyan defeated in last year’s Invitational, will join Trinity in the Wesleyan Natatorium this Saturday and Sunday. Over the past three seasons, Wesleyan has gone 8-1 in its invite, with the lone loss coming to Brandeis in 2006-07, 1183.6-1144.5.