The men’s swimming and diving team is now 6-2 following Saturday’s loss to MIT (72.5-240.5) and Sunday’s win against Springfield College (223-57). Over interterm, the team enjoyed a thrilling victory of 124-113 over Williams and subsequently traveled to sunny Puerto Rico for a 10-day training trip. Upon their return, the team suffered tough losses to Connecticut College (99-181) and MIT, but were able to bounce back with a decisive victory over Springfield.

Against MIT, the relay squad of Alex Dreisbach ’17, Vic Sun ’16, Sebastian Cruz ’16 and Jeff Anderson ’16 earned third place in the 200-yard freestyle relay with a time of 1:27.50. The 200-yard medley relay team of Matt Heise ’16, Elijah Spiro ’18, Sam Spurrell ’18 and Anderson also placed third with a mark of 1:35.47.

Regardless of the tough competition, the men were able to earn some solid finishes. Anderson took first place in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 1:52.74 and snatched second in the 200-yard IM with 1:56.24. Connor Haley ’17, Dreisbach and Spiro earned third in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:50.31, 50-yard freestyle in 21.59 and 100-yard breaststroke in 58.45, respectively.

Spurrell also earned a second-place finish in the 100-yard butterfly with a season-best time of 51.31. “It’s important to swim against people that challenge us, because it pushes us to go faster,” Spurrell said.

On the diving side, Asher Lichtig ’16 had a very successful weekend. Against MIT, he placed first in the 1-meter and 3-meter diving events with scores of 318.83 and 289.80. After taking on Springfield at his final home competition, Lichtig broke two pool records. He earned high scores of 485.77 and 525.82 in the 1-meter and 3-meter diving events, respectively.

“It was a very nice way to end my four years,” Lichtig said. “Everyone was having great swims and I was just happy the coach let me do 11 dives so I could go for it. Nice to know I’ll leave something behind.”

Another pool record was broken on Sunday by Spiro. He earned an impressive time of 57.46 in the 100-yard breaststroke. In addition to Spiro, several other men’s team members gained first-place finishes against Springfield. Haley won the 1650-yard freestyle with a time of 16:49.73, Spurrell took first in the 100-yard butterfly by finishing in 51.77, Jon Janezich ’18 snatched both the 200-yard freestyle in 1:46.42 and the 500-yard freestyle in 4:47.80, Greg Han ’17 took the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:11.98 and Charlie Seltzer ’19 won the 400-yard IM in 4:23.40.

The real spotlight of the day, however, was on the seniors. In their last Pratt Pool competition, Anderson and Heiss each dominated in several events. Anderson took first in the 200-yard butterfly by finishing in 1:51.67 and the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 47.67, while Heise won the 50-yard freestyle in 22.36 and 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1:54.57.

Anderson and Heise also contributed to a first-place finish in the 200-yard medley relay alongside teammates Spurrell and Spiro in 1:34.44 and Sun closed out the 200-yard free relay for yet another Amherst victory.

Sweeping the diving board events against both MIT and Sprinfield, Lichtig was named NESCAC performer of the week. Lichtig is the second Amherst swimmer to win the accolade this season, joining Han.

Coming off of this solid win against Springfield, the men are feeling confident as they begin their NESCAC preparation.

Amherst returns to the pool for NESCAC Championships at Williams College from Friday, Feb. 19 to Sunday, Feb. 20. The meet’s three days of action are each set to start at 10 a.m.