Men
The Amherst men’s swimming and diving teams traveled to Middlebury on Jan. 31 to participate in the two-day Middlebury Invitational against Williams, Tufts and Middlebury.
Despite the team’s inability to win any of the relay events, there were a series of impressive performances by individual Jeffs.
First-year Nick Lafky was the first to shine, finishing runner-up in the 200-yard IM. He also won the 100 and 200-yard breaststroke, which demonstrated his versatility by swimming in three different relays as well.
John Brody ’17 turned another impressive importance for the Jeffs. The rookie dominated the 1000-yard freestyle almost a full nine seconds ahead of his closest competitor. Even though he finished second in the 200-yard and 500-yard freestyles, Brody displayed why he is such a promising swimmer with three years of his Amherst career remaining.
Senior Tyler Bulakul again showed proved his importance on a dep squad, winning the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 51.51 seconds. Jeff Anderson ’16 just lost out to Bulakul by 0.47 seconds, taking second.
Sebastian Cruz ’16 wasn’t to be outdone by his teammates, posting a series of very fast times, headlined by the 1:56.57 he put up in the 200-yard butterfly and the 22.31 in the 50-yard freestyle.
Amherst hosted Springfield College on Feb. 2, looking to finish the regular season on a high note with one last victory. They did just that, dominating their opposition and winning 169-117. The actual margin of victory, however, was much greater; it is common courtesy in swimming and diving to stop scoring if the lead becomes too big.
The Jeffs dominated both relays, finishing with at least teams in first and second place in each. In the individual events, the Jeffs performed admirably, winning every single event and often taking second place as well.
The divers meanwhile, continued to prove why they are the best diving squad in the NESCAC as Colin White ’14 won both diving events and Asher Lichtig ’16 battled a bad back to finish second in 1-meter dive.
All in all, the Jeffs displayed their numerous individual talents and proved that the men have an excellent chance to win the NESCAC title.
The NESCAC Championships will be held Feb. 21-23 at Bowdoin.
Women
The Amherst women’s swimming and diving team joined Williams, Tufts, UVM, Springfield College and host Middlebury for the two-day Middlebury Invitational.
The Jeffs didn’t win any of the relays, finishing second in three out of the five. However, many encouraging individual performances showed the Jeffs are real contenders to repeat as NESCAC champs.
The sophomore duo of Emily Hyde and Charlotte Chudy continued their excellent seasons, winning the 50-yard freestyle in 25.21 and the 1650-yard freestyle in 18:03.50, respectively.
They hosted Springfield College on Feb. 2, winning their final dual meet of the regular season to finish 5-2 on the year. They easily defeated their opposition despite losing both diving events.
The addition of junior Aline Kim, who recently returned from a semester abroad, bolsters a team lacking in numbers. She finished second in the 100-yard backstroke and will be a dangerous new weapon in the women’s nautical arsenal.
First-year walk-on Kasia Ifill showed has made significant strides in the pool this season, posting respectable times of 28.29 in the 50-yard butterfly and 26.10 in the 50-yard freestyle.
The Jeffs have a number of star swimmers, notably, Hyde winner of three events, Sarah Conklin ’16 and Sabrina Lee ’15 winners of two each and Chudy, who won her sole event by nearly six seconds.
With the regular season now in their rearview, the Jeffs have the chance to defend their NESCAC title Feb. 14-16 at Williams.
“After a three days of hard fought competition last weekend, we feel like we are in a great position to be successful at NESCACs. We feel like we have momentum on our side, and we will be able to take advantage of what has been a very successful season thus far,” said Chudy.
