At their season ending contest, the men’s swim team reached new heights at NESCACs.
Breaking 1,000 points for the first time in school history, five relay squads and 12 individuals ascended the top-eight podium. Five Cardinals were named to the all-NESCAC team, and two swimmers achieved provisional standards for D-III nationals. Moving up two spots from last years finish, the fourth place showing marks the highest Wesleyan has ranked in the NESCAC in history.
This was no fluke either, as the set-up of NESCACs demands consistency and resilience. Of the 23 swimmers on the roster, 22 made it back for at least one night session, scoring points for the team. In years past the team has lacked the ability to remain consistent, but this year the swimmers were able to string together six solid sessions and prove themselves as the up-and-coming team in the NESCAC.
Each day someone new stepped up and had a great performance. Friday belonged to the sprinters, with seniors Dan Devine and Josh Tanz both finishing fourth in their respective events (50-breast and 50-fly), both literally hundredths of a second out of top-three finishes, the criteria for all-NESCAC performance. Eric Altneu also turned in a great morning swim in the 50-breaststroke, tying for 16th despite losing his goggles on the start.
The true star of the day had to be Bryan Jones ’09, who battled a severe shoulder injury all season. Yet Jones still swam three individual events and made it back in all three, a fantastic achievement for someone in peak condition, let alone still recovering from major shoulder surgery. Another bright spot emerged in the evening session in freshman diver Dave Wilkinson, who finished fifth on the one-meter board.
After the strong performances from day one, the team came into day two pumped up and ready to battle. Strong morning swims put the team right where it wanted to be for finals. The 200-Medley relay team of Will Hasty, Dan Devine, Josh Tanz, and Mike Pepi started the evening off with a bang, finishing fourth and just missing a national “B” cut.
In the 1,000-freestyle Wesleyan showed why it is regarded as one of the strongest distance programs in the conference, placing five swimmers in the top 24, and three in the top ten. The flyers also showed their mettle, with Josh Tanz leading the way with a personal best time and fourth place finish in the 100-fly, with Matt Donne ’07 and Allan Collins ’08 cleaning up with top-16 finishes. Dan Devine again worked his breaststroke magic, finishing seventh in the 100-breast, with Jeff Stein ’08 and Eric Altneu ’07 both placing in the top 24.
Perhaps the best example of the growing strength of the team came in the 200-freestyle, a traditionally weak event for the Cardinals. This year, however, they placed five swimmers in the top 24, more than any other team at the meet. Once again, one of the brightest stars of the day came from the freshman class in Seth Murphy. Swimming both the 1,000-free and the 400 IM, an incredibly difficult double, Seth had two lifetime best times and placed 11th in both events. His swims mark him as the fastest freshman competing in the 1,000-free and third fastest 400 IM. His performance was a true inspiration for the team.
“I thought Seth did really well,” said Will McCue ’06. “Every time I saw him race, it came down to the last 25, and he always beat the other guy. He showed real heart.”
On Sunday, despite feeling the drain of the long weekend and the knowledge that a fourth place finish was more or less inevitable, the Cardinal swimmers still came convinced to finish making their mark. Captain Rob Mitchell ’07, who has struggled with very painful and restrictive tendonitis in both shoulders all season, started the day off with one of the most inspirational performances of the weekend, finishing 10th in the 1650, the longest event in swimming, just five seconds from making the podium. Josh Tanz struck again in the 200-fly, finishing fifth with a national “B” cut time of 1.54.66, which makes him one of the top-30 flyers in D-III this year.
“The seniors were definitely the ones to watch,” said Chris Becker ’09. “All five of them scored in all their events and definitely helped motivate everyone else to do the same.”
Other strong events on the day were the 100-free, in which a full quarter of the 24 swimmers at night represented Wesleyan, including three of the seniors. Will Hasty ’06 provided the lone top-eight finish in the backstroke events on the weekend with a sixth place finish in the 200-back. Dave Wilkinson again impressed, this time off the three-meter board, finishing fourth.
“Dave has really brought Wesleyan Diving to a whole new level,” Altneu said. “He is really at the top of his game.”
Wesleyan’s crowning achievement came with the last race of the meet, the 400-freestyle relay. This team, composed of Dan Devine, Chris Becker, Mike Pepi, and Josh Tanz, took third in a time of 3.10.74, less than a second off the school record, to record the first ever all-NESCAC relay squad for Wesleyan.
I was happy with our teams unprecedented domination of the bottom half of the NESCAC,“ Pepi said. ”I think we clearly sent a message to the rest of the league that we’re one of the ‘big boys.’ Just look at the score board.“
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