While the rest of campus was on break, the Amherst men’s swimming and diving team was busy training and competing. Over interterm, the team competed in three meets and traveled to Puerto Rico for a week-long training trip.

Amherst’s fourth dual meet of the 2016-2017 season took place on Dec. 31, against Union College. Amherst defeated Union, 157-83, continuing the team’s undefeated start to the season. The team was propelled to victory by claiming nine first place finishes and the top-three finishes in three events.

In the 200-yard medley relay, the team of Craig Smith ’20, Jack Koravos ’20, Josh Chen ’19 and Alex Dreisbach ’17 took first with a time of 1:36.03. Eric Wong ’20 won the 1000-yard freestyle in 9:51.26, while classmate Brandon Wang took the 500-yard freestyle in 4:58.61.

John Brody ’17 finished first in the 200-yard freestyle with a mark of 1:46.72, Sean Mebust ’20 won the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 48.88 and Sam Spurrell ’18 took the 200-yard butterfly in 1:56.83.

In the 50-yard freestyle, Dreisbach took first (21.60), closely followed by Noah Aube ’20 (22.48) and Smith (22.63), who placed second and third in the event.

In the 200-yard backstroke, Smith finished first with a mark of 1:55.7, while teammate Charlie Seltzer ’19 was second in 1:59.75 and Jack Fergus ’20 was third in 2:01.65. To finish off the meet, Koravos, Wong, Chen and Dreisbach placed first in the 200-yard freestyle relay with a time of 1:26.53, narrowly missing the Pratt Pool record of 1:26.06.

On Jan. 7, Amherst traveled to Williamstown to face off against Williams. Unfortunately, Amherst suffered its first loss of the season, with the Ephs winning the dual meet, 139-102. While the team did not win, Amherst put forth a strong effort, with many individuals contributing strong performances across the board. Koravos won the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 21.28, closely trailed by Dreisbach (21.38).

Wong took first place in the 500-yard freestyle, finishing in 4:43.02. He also tallied a strong second place finish in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:43.57. In one-meter diving, newcomer Bobby Shogren ’19 won with a final score of 246.68. The team’s final victory of the meet came from the team of Koravos, Wong, Dreisbach and Seltzer, who won the 400-yard freestyle relay with a time of 3:07.48.

After this meet, the team voyaged to Puerto Rico for a week of training. The purple and white returned to competition on Jan. 21, facing off against Connecticut College and pulling out a 165-123 win.

The quartet of Smith, Koravos, Dreisbach and Elijah Spiro ’18 got Amherst off to a strong start by winning the 200-yard medley relay in a Pratt Pool record time of 1:33.08. Koravos also won the 50-yard freestyle in 21.10 and the 100-yard butterfly in 50.67 while Smith took first in both the 100-yard backstroke (52.10) and the 200-yard backstroke (1:54.13).

Wong claimed first place honors in the 200-yard and the 500-yard freestyle with times of 52.10 and 4:39.41. Chen won the 100-yard breaststroke in 57.59, and Mebust won the 200-yard breaststroke in 2:07.10.

Amherst also swept both diving events. In the one-meter diving, Shogren won with a score of 180.90 while Jake Meyer ’18 placed second, scoring 174.15. In three-meter diving, Meyer’s score of 178.20 was enough for first place, while Shogren took second with a final score of 161.77.

Up next, Amherst will travel to Cambridge, Massachusetts on Saturday, Jan. 28, to take on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.