The men’s swim team had huge wins against both Bowdoin and Colby at its meet on Saturday. Coming off an embarrassing loss to Colby last year, the Cards dominated 212-80 over Bowdoin and 177-111 over Colby. This puts the team in prime position to make a strong run at NESCACs in a few weeks.
Michael Bailey ’11 explained that this was not just another meet for the team.
“The men’s team had a hard loss to Colby last year and looked to this meet for redemption,” Bailey said. “We came into the meet with a mindset that, no matter what, we were going to win and wanted to make a statement that our team is a lot stronger than last year. We made this point clear in the first event of the meet, the 200 medley relay, where we placed both first and second.”
From the start, it was clear that the team was performing up to its own high expectations, but midway through the meet a strong Colby team was still within striking distance. The coaches made this clear to Bailey and Kevin McKeown ’11, who coolly responded with first- and second-place finishes respectively in the 100 and 200 breaststroke, as well as the backbreaking 400 individual medley.
“It is pretty exciting as a freshman to be able to contribute to the team’s current success and take on the responsibility of ensuring further success in the future,” said Dana Drost ’11, who scored key points for the team with wins in the 100 and 200 butterfly.
“We will be losing seniors [next year] who are huge contributors to the team, meaning the rest of the team will have to work harder to fill the missing swimmers,” Bailey added. “The team overall has great potential and with the added group of next year’s freshmen to an already up-and-coming team, we are sure to solidify this program as a top competitor in the league.”
Leading the way for the diving team was Dave Wilkinson ’09, who took first in the one-meter and three-meter events.
The team performed particularly well considering low turnout in practice during the week. An intense training trip to Puerto Rico during winter break combined with the usual winter sickness left the team sore and tired, but recent tapering in practice has left Tech primed for a run at NESCAC Championships.
“Our team is getting pumped up for NESCACs, since we only have a few more weeks,” Bailey commented. “We set some teams goals at the beginning of the year, and have accomplished the majority of them, but one is to place top four in the division.”
Saturday’s meet followed a loss to Connecticut College, a strong but beatable team. The Cards wrap up the regular season this Saturday, when Coast Guard Academy comes to town. From there, it is less than three weeks until Men’s NESCAC Championships at Middlebury.
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