The women’s swimming and diving team headed up to Middlebury and took second place with a score of 1,343 this past weekend in the 2016 NESCAC tournament. Coming off last weekend with strong wins against both MIT and Springfield College, the women were ready to compete in the final meet of the regular season.

At the end of day one, the women held second place with a score of 512 and had several standout performances. Sarah Conklin ’16 not only won the 50-yard butterfly, but also set a pool record with a time of 24.71. Fellow senior Emily Hyde dominated in her event as well, with a NESCAC meet and Middlebury pool record of 2:00.06 in the 200-yard individual medley. The 400-yard medley relay squad of Stephanie Moriarty ’18, Hannah Hummel ’16, Zoe Pappas ’19 and Conklin earned a solid second place with a mark of 3:44.49.

After a lengthy day two, the women maintained their second-place standing behind Williams with 976 points. Hyde came out strong yet again, setting another pool record in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:00.99. Conklin kept up her stellar performance, securing second place in the 100-yard butterfly with a mark of 54.97. First-year Bridgette Kwong also helped the team on its way to their second place finish, earning third in the 400-yard IM (4:29.91). Charlotte Chudy ’16 also contributed with a fourth-place finish in the 1,000-yard freestyle with a time of 10:23.30. Rounding out their second day at Middlebury, the 200-yard medley group of Moriarty, Hyde, Conklin and Destin Groff ’17 took a second-place finish with a solid mark of 1:42.94.

On the final day of the NESCAC showdown, Hyde went out with a bang. In the 200-yard breaststroke, the senior finished a full seven seconds ahead of the second-place finisher with a time of 2:12.22. Not only did Hyde win the race, but she also shattered the NCAA Division III record, breaking the previous mark set by Williams’ Lindsey Payne in 2006.

Hyde’s strong finish, along with a fourth place in the 1,650-yard freestyle by Chudy, fourth- and fifth-place finishes in the 200-yard backstroke by Kwong and Moriarty, respectively, and a fifth-place slot in the 200-yard butterfly for Conklin, the Amherst women finished the meet with a score of 1,343, earning them second place overall.

The team’s outstanding performance this weekend, coupled with its impressive overall season, earned the women nine spots on the swimming and diving all-NESCAC teams.

Unsurprisingly, Hyde was named NESCAC swimmer of the meet as well as a Four Year High Point Swimmer after her impressive career at Amherst. Hyde finished as four-time champion in the 200-yard breaststroke, and a three-time winner in both the 200-yard IM and the 100-yard breaststroke.

Conklin also raked in several NESCAC honors in both the 50 and 100 yard butterfly as well as the 200-yard freestyle relay.
Kwong and Moriarty each earned individual all-conference honors in the 400-yard IM and the 50-yard backstroke, respectively. Moriarty also picked up accolades for her part in both the 200 and 400-yard freestyle relay races.
Another impressive first-year, Zoe Pappas garnered all-NESCAC honors for her role in three relays, including the 200-yard, 400-yard and 800-yard freestyle relays. Along with Pappas, junior Destin Groff also picked up a pair of all-conference honors in the 200-yard freestyle and 200-yard medley relay events.

Finally, three more fantastic first years secured all-NESCAC nods: Katie Smith for her part in the 200-yard freestyle relay and Livia Domenig and Dorit Song for the 800-yard freestyle relay that touched the wall in third place in 7:33.85.
The seventh ranked purple and white, led by national record holder Hyde and the 9 all-NESCAC women’s swimmers, will resume post-season action at the NCAA national championship tournament in Greensboro, North Carolina this March.