Last Saturday in Pratt pool, Amherst’s men’s and women’s swim and dive teams opened their seasons with two decisive victories over Union College.

The men crushed Union 202-91, winning 14 events in the process. Amherst’s 200 medley relay team, consisting of Sam Spurrell ’18, Greg Han ’17, Matt Heise ’16 and Tyler Hampton ’15 handed the Jeff’s their first victory of the afternoon, touching the wall at 1:36:84. In the meet’s closing event Spurrell and Hampton swam with Alex Dreisbach ’17 and Connor Sholtis ’15 to bring home the final victory of the afternoon in the 200 free relay.

Ben Grimes ’15 demonstrated his versatility by bagging victories in both the 1,000 yard freestyle and the 200 individual medley. Sholtis, on the other hand, proved his dominance in free by winning both the 100 and the 200 in addition to his relay success. The medley relay team proved that they earned their first win of the day when Spurrell, Han, and Heise won 100 fly, 200 back, and 200 breaststroke respectively.

The last three wins of the day are credited to Jeff Anderson ’16, who won the 200 fly, Elijah Spiro ’18, who won 100 breaststroke, and John Janezich ’18, who won the 500 free.

The men were helped to their overall victory by Asher Lichtig ’16, who won both diving events of the day. He claimed the 3M with a score of 265.24 and the 1M with a NCAA-qualifying score of 290.95. His accomplishments at the meet were highlighted when he was named NESCAC performer of the week.

The women of Amherst swim and dive also opened their season with a victory, defeating Union 168-118. Seven of 13 victories to come that afternoon would be claimed by three first-years. The first came via Marie Maxwell ’18’s 200 free win. Maxwell followed her first win up with two more, this time in the 500 free and 1,000 free. Maxwell’s performance in her first collegiate meet earned her the NESCAC Performer of the Week honor.

Stephanie Mariarty ’18 added another two individual wins, taking home the 100 and 200 back in addition to being a member of the victorious 200 medley relay team. Garelyn Lam ’18 rounded out the first-year performance, winning the 100 and 200 fly to add two more wins to the Jeff’s total.

Emily Hyde ’16 added to her victory as part of the 200 medley team by claiming both 100 and 200 breaststroke. Hyde earned her last win of the day in the 200 free relay alongside Sarah Conklin ’16, Sabrina Lee ’15, Ashleigh Stoddart ’15.

Conklin and Lee earned the last two individual wins of the day. Conklin claimed 100 fly and Lee took 100 free.

“We were psyched as to how fast we all swam, and especially proud of the freshmen. They really stepped up to the plate and owned their events,” Conklin said. “We’re looking forward to another fun and successful season.”

Both men’s and women’s swim and dive return to Pratt pool on Saturday, Nov 22 to face off against rival Colby at 2 pm.