The men and women’s swimming and diving team was defeated in their first contest of 2016 on the road against Colby College this past Sunday. The men lost 200-94, while the women fell by a final score of 201-68. 

While the men were beaten in almost every event of the day, Zach Diamond ’18 was one of the few bright spots for the squad. In the 1000-yard freestyle, Diamond swam the race in 10 minutes and 23.39 seconds, which was good for second place behind freshman Joe Paluso. Colby was able to capture the other top-4 positions in the event. Diamond was able to come up victorious with a first-place finish in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:07.16. 

The best finish of the day came from Cameron Braz ’17, who secured a first place finish in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:49.17. His time was just .23 seconds faster than the runner up finisher, freshman Carter Garfield of Colby. Taku Harada ’18 also competed well in the event with a third-place finish with a time of 1:49.69. Harada’s best place was in the 200-yard backstroke where he captured first place with a finish of 2.07.64.

Continuing with their limited success in short distance races, Edan Zitelny ’17 placed in second place in the 100-yard backstroke with an impressive time of 57.84 seconds, less than half a second off of first place. Eb Weber ’17 also swam the meet in 1:00.19, which was good for fourth place in the event. 

The men continually tried to grab top finishes in the short distance events but settled for third place in the 100-yard breaststroke where Adib Milani ’18 swam in a time of 1:06.75.  

For the diving portion of the meet, Sam Zucker ’18 finished behind the two divers from Colby with a score of 171.60. 

The women went through a difficult afternoon as well but battled to place well in a few events. Joanna Murphy ’17 once again led the squad, this time placing first with a time of 11:16.58 in the 1000-yard freestyle event. Murphy’s time was a good four seconds ahead of the second place finisher, junior Kitty Elwyn of Colby. 

Murphy was able to win another event with a time of 5:29.86 in the 500-yard freestyle. Elwyn was once again the second place finisher in the event, this time falling short by just over two seconds. 

In her first collegiate season, Kylie Herman ’19 has stepped up time and again. This time, in the 200-yard freestyle, Herman swam in an impressive time of 2:01.44, which was good enough for second place. Herman also finished in second place in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:20.37. Her third runner-up finish came in the 200-yard individual medley event. 

In the 100 yard breaststroke Fallon Bushee ’16 secured a second place finish in a time of 1:17.20. Bushee took another second place when she competed in the 50-yard freestyle where she swam in 26.23 seconds. 

Genna Karp ’18 scored 65.92 points while diving against victorious Colby sophomore Alicia Elliot. 

The women will swim again today against Merrimack College. The men will be in action once again on Saturday, when they face off against Trinity College at home.