The men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams turned in some solid individual performances at the Gompei Invitational, an annual three-day meet last weekend hosted by the Worcester Polytechnic Institute. 

The men’s squad finished fourth out of eight competing teams, improving on a fifth-place finish from last year. The women placed 10th out of 12 teams, down two spots from last year.

The meet was split between the preliminary races on Friday and  Saturday and the finals races on Sunday. Swimmers were split into one of four finals races—labeled the A, B, C and D Finals—based on their preliminary race times.

The women picked up 582 points during the weekend meet, just 61.5 behind the ninth-place squad from Marywood University.

Joanna Murphy ’17 paced the women’s squad with a fourth-place finish in the 1,650-yard freestyle, swimming a race of 18 minutes, 11.95 seconds. 

Her time was just over two seconds slower than the third-place finisher and just behind her season-best 18.08.24. 

Murphy also picked up a 10th-place finish in the 500-yard freestyle in 5:27.89 and was part of the 11th-place quartet in the 800-yard freestyle relay.

Erin Gawronski ’18 picked up a fourth-place finish in the C Final of the 100-yard butterfly, stopping the timer at 1:04.43 and setting a new season-best for the Judges. 

Gawronski also took eighth in the B Final of the 200-yard individual medley, swimming the race with a time of 2:21.86.

“The weekend, while fairly hectic and incredibly busy, was ultimately very rewarding,” Gawronski said. 

“At a meet of that size, the competition is fierce. You have to put your best foot forward, stay motivated, and above all else, give it everything you've got.”

“The energy and intensity never faltered, and as a result, there were a number of seasonal best times among members of the team, both men and women,” she continued.

Gawronski helped contribute to a fourth-place finish in the B Final of the 400-yard medley relay, swimming with Murphy, Sherry Tu ’18 and Maya Saar ’18. 

The four swam a total time of 4:26.46, a fraction of a second ahead of a team from host WPI.

Amy Sheinhait ’18 placed ninth in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 25.15 seconds, setting both a personal-best record and the Judges’ fastest time in the race this year. She was a drop slower in the 100-yard freestyle, finishing the C Final in 56.98. 

Her sixth-place time in the 100-yard freestyle was faster than three competitors in the B Final but a slow preliminary race left her to race in the C Final instead.

The men’s squad amassed 1,460 points at the meet but finished 500 points out of third-place overall.

Max Fabian ’15 set a season-record for 500-yard freestyle with a final of 4:45.42, more than 10 seconds ahead of the previous record. His time was good for second place in the race, just 31 hundredths of a second behind the race winner.

Fabian won the 1,650-yard freestyle race in 16:29.20, a full four seconds in front of the second-place finisher.

Fabian also touched the wall third in the 400-yard individual medley, finishing the race in 4:14.26, and won the B Final of the 200-yard butterfly in 2:06.07.

Gawronski pointed to the team’s cohesive support as a factor in the quick times.

“More than anything, it was the team dynamic that really motivated the swimmers,” she said. “As a team, we are very supportive of one another. The swimmers' energy and enthusiasm was at a height during [the] meet.”

The men also saw an impressive day from Zach Diamond ’18, who took home a sixth-place finish in the 500-yard freestyle, finishing in 4:58.06, just under three seconds out of a top-five finish.

Brian Luk ’16 grabbed a fourth-place finish in the 50-yard freestyle, turning in a time of 21.57, and matched his finish in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 53.32.

Luk also picked up a fourth-place finish in the 100-yard freestyle race in 47.08 seconds and swam the 200-yard freestyle in 1:49.15.

Gawronski said that the teams saw plenty of positives from the meet but still have work before the University Athletic Association Championships later this winter.

“[The] meet gave us an indication of what to expect at UAA's, and our individual swims gave us an indication of what we're capable of at this point in the season. Either way, this weekend's experience was very positive and optimistic, and I'm excited to see the team continue to get better over the remainder of the season.”

Both squads will next swim in a home meet versus Colby College on Jan. 10 before traveling to Trinity (Conn.) on Jan. 17.