This past weekend, Wesleyan hosted the women’s NESCAC Swimming and Diving Championship. After a tough meet at the start of February with losses to Conn. College, United States Coast Guard Academy, and Fairfield University, the women’s team recovered in time for a strong finish to the season.
The team came in sixth place in the 2019 championship with 899 points, earning its best finish at the conference meet in school history. Williams took home the crown for the sixth-straight year (1,873 points), Tufts earned runner-up (1,439.5 points), while Amherst finished third (1,322 points).
On the first day of competition, the Cardinals were already breaking records. The first relay team for Wesleyan, composed of Hannah O’Halloran ’20, Caroline Murphy ’20, Mengmeng Gibbs ’22, and Sophia Antonio ’19, set a new varsity record for Wesleyan and established an NCAA B-cut consideration time, clocking in at 7:36.64, good enough for sixth place.
On the second day of competition, even more of the Red and Black excelled. Defending NESCAC Champion and 2018 All-American Murphy won the 50-yard backstroke with a time of 25.37, setting a NESCAC meet record, as well as a new conference record. This was Murphy’s third-straight NESCAC crown in the 50-yard back event. In the 50-yard breast championship final, Gibbs garnered All-NESCAC honors when she placed third with a time of 29.52. The 400-yard medley relay (Murphy, Gibbs, Grace Middleton ’20 and O’Halloran) earned All-NESCAC laurels with a runner-up finish, clocking in at 3:48.07. Devon Cooper ’19 advanced to the championship final in the 1-meter diving, placing eighth overall with 344.80 points.
The third day of the championships saw Murphy earn her second NESCAC crown of the weekend, coming in first place in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 54.99, one full second faster than her winning time from 2017-18. This was Murphy’s second-straight NESCAC title in the event. Wesleyan’s 200-yard medley relay team (Murphy, Gibbs, Maela Whitcomb ’19, and O’Halloran) earned runner-up honors with a time of 1:43.86, less than one second behind Williams. First year Rachel Townsend placed tenth in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:07.17.
The Cardinals did not slow down on the final day of competition. The 400-yard freestyle relay (Murphy, O’Halloran, Antonio, and Middleton) came in third place, clocking in at 3:27.07 to earn an NCAA B-Cut time, as well as All-NESCAC laurels. O’Halloran finished fourth in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2:02.99. At the conclusion of the four-day competition, head coach Peter Solomon was honored as the 2019 Women’s Swimming & Diving NESCAC Co-Coach of the Year.
The men’s team has not yet competed in the NESCAC Championships, concluding the regular season on February 1 with losses to Coast Guard, Conn. College, and Fairfield, totaling 147 points in the meet. Prior to the meet, head coach Peter Solomon honored the team’s three seniors—Eren Kiris, Phon Leeswadtrakul, and Max Wimer. In the meet, a few Cardinals had notable performances. First year Jeffrey Haegelin came in sixth place in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:00.24 and earned sixth in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 54.47. Off the 3-meter board, Joel Groves ’21 came in fifth with 95.85 points, while Charlie Vogel ’21 earned sixth with 71.90 points. Groves came in fourth off the 1-meter board with 117.20 points, while Vogel earned fifth with 95.75 points. The men’s team returns to action on Friday, Feb. 21 for the NESCAC Championship meet hosted by Middlebury College.
Nicholas Keating can be reached at nkeating@wesleyan.edu.