This past Saturday the men’s swimming and diving team hosted rival Coast Guard Academy in the last dual meet of the season. The Cards put forth a fine effort in front of a raucous crowd on senior night, but lost 160-121 to a strong Coast Guard squad.
The team honored five seniors in their last home meet, including Eric Altneu, Ben Byers, Luke Schlesinger ’07, and co-captains John Haley and Matt Donne.
The 200-yard medley team finished a close second to Coast Guard, despite a fine leadoff swim from Jordan Brown ’10 and a sizzling freestyle leg from Chris Becker ’09. An exciting race in its own right, the 200 -yard medley served only as an appetizer for what was to come in the 1000-yard freestyle.
The most anticipated event of the day featured Byers and Coast Guard All-American Bobby Brown. Byers, Wesleyan’s All-American school record holder in the 1000 and 1650-yard freestyle, entered undefeated in races of 1000 yards or longer during his career. Brown, meanwhile, finished second in the country in the 1650 only two years ago.
The two All-Americans swam neck and neck the whole way. Byers held a scant lead of two-tenths of a second heading into the final 100 yards. Brown fought back with a strong 50 yards to take the lead by two-tenths, leading to a wild 50-yard sprint to the finish.
Byers unleashed a furious kick to close on Brown, cutting into the lead with every stroke. Heading into the finish, no one could tell who had won, but the scoreboard gave the news: Brown 1, Byers 2. Byers was out-touched by a mere one-hundredth of a second in a kilometer-long race. His time, 9:35.61, ranks him first in the NESCAC this year by over 2 seconds.
Byers took revenge in the 500, where he beat Brown by over 12 seconds. The Cards also got quick swims by Andrew Walker and Seth Murphy in the 200-yard Fly. Though the team continued to fight hard, Coast Guard’s depth eventually wore them down.
“Andrew and Seth were a pleasure to race against [in the 200 fly],” Donne said.
Jordan Brown ’10 continued his strong season, swimming a season best time in the 100-yard backstroke, while Jae Lee ’10 produced his own season best in the 100-yard fly. Also notable was sprinter Chris Becker ’09, who swam his quick leg in the 200 medley relay in 21.2 seconds. The final score of 160-121 does not do the Cardinals’ effort justice, as the afternoon featured many of the season’s best times.
When asked how it felt to have swum in their last meet, some seniors said it was a great feeling to have been part of something so special for four years.
“It is a bittersweet feeling,” Donne said. “One part of me is happy to leave on a high note. The other half will miss the competition immensely.”
The seniors and the rest of the team have one last meet to which they can look forward, the NESCAC championships hosted by Bowdoin. They have three weeks to prepare, taper, and get up to peak speed in time for the competition, to be held Feb. 23-25. Come NESCACs, look for the Cards in the top five, repeating their record-breaking finish from last year.
Leave a Reply