On Saturday, Nov. 18, the Amherst men’s swim and dive team dominated its season opener against Colby to capture the team’s first win of the season, 164-114.
In the meet, the Mammoths’ strength and power was undeniable, taking each of the top three spots in six of the 16 events.
In the meet-opening 200-yard medley, the team of Kou Li ’21, Elijah Spiro ’18, John Janezich ’18 and Jack Koravos ’20 claimed first with a time of 1:35:25. The second place team of Craig Smith ’20, Josh Chen ’19, Sam Spurrell ’18, and Tristian So ’21 finished with a time of 1:36:75. In third, still ahead of any Colby team, Jack Fergus ’20, Justin Lee ’19, Brandon Wang ’20 and Matt Sanders ’21 clocked in at 1:39.36.
The dominance in the medley was only the beginning of an incredibly successful day for the Mammoths.

Charlie Seltzer ’19, Sean Mebust ’20 and Bobby Meyer ’21 snagged the top three spots in the 200-yard freestyle with marks of 1:47.39, 1:48.05 and 1:48.55 respectively. Amherst did not slow down there, as So (21.65), Koravos (21.69), Sanders (22.63) and Janezich (22.67) swept the top four places in the 50-yard freestyle.

The Mammoths similarly dominated the diving events, with Bennett Fagan ’20 leading the team with a second place finish in the three-meter competition and a first place mark in the one-meter event. Bobby Shogren ’19 and Jake Meyer ’18, took third and fourth in both events, respectively.

Two days later, Amherst built on its earlier success to pummel Little Three rival Wesleyan. The Mammoths claimed wins in nine events, leading to a final score of 161-126.

After his teammates had taken the top three spots in the 200-yard medley relay, Eric Wong ’20 entered the pool for the 400-yard individual medley and managed to place first overall in 4:11.30.

Smith likewise captured first in the 50-yard backstroke with a 24.49 mark.

Li and Seltzer continued their strong start to the season in the 200-yard freestyle with first and second place times of 1:42.43 and 1:45.47. In the 100-yard freestyle, Li (47.65) placed first overall and Wong (48.15) took second.

Continuing his success from the first meet, Fagan placed second in both the three-meter and one-meter diving event with 231.97 and 240.07 points.

With two dual-meet wins underway, the Mammoths will ride a wave of momentum into their next meet at home on Saturday, Dec. 2 against Middlebury at 1 p.m.