The Brandeis Men's and Women's Swimming and Diving team kicked off its season at home this Saturday with a meet againt Keene State College. Thecoaches

The team is led by Head Coach Jim Zotz, who is in his 24th year at Brandeis. The coaching staff also includes Diving Coach Jim Brainerd, who will be beginning his 12th season at Brandeis, and Assistant Swim Coach Chuck Batchelor, who is beginning his first season with the Judges.

The captains

The captain for this year's men's team is Marshall Goldman '03, and for the women's team, Maya Marx '04 and Jordan RoseFigura '04. Both the men's and women's teams are going to miss last year's graduating class, which included some very strong swimmers.

The men's team

Nonetheless, the men's team has the opportunity to improve on last year's season, even though they finished with a strong 8-2 record in the dual meets, and have not lost a meet at home since 2000.

This year, the men are led by Goldman and Scott Saint-Amour '03. Goldman currently holds three individual school records in the 50, 100 and 200 Butterfly. Saint-Amour is returning as one of the top distance swimmers on the team and has the ability to contribute to almost any event.

The junior class also looks strong. The Judges are expecting big things from Dan Levin '04, who set records in both the 500 and 1000 freestyle last year. Levin was also part of two school record-setting relays: The 400 medley and the 800 freestyle. Nick Dufresne '04 brings blazingly fast times in the breaststroke and is also part of the school record-making team in the 400 medleyrelay. Another member of the strong junior class is Jeremiah Cohen '04, who had an excellent season last year, making key contributions in the breaststroke, IM and backstroke events. James Yeaton '04, who competes in one and three-meter diving and the sprint freestyle, also brings skill and experience to the team.

This year's sophomore class has shown promise, coming off a successful first-year season. Nick Pai '05 made school records in six individual events in 2001-02 and was also a member of four relay teams that each set a record. Pai also made nationals in the 100 and 200 backstroke events. Noah Rachlin '05 was an important contributor last season, cracking the 10 year old school record in the 400 IM (individual medley) by nearly 10 seconds. Rachlin is also the owner of the second fastest running times in the 100 fly, 200 fly and 200 IM.

By all accounts, this year's first-years have the potential to contribute to the team in equally important ways. Unfortunately, Ross Gercenstein '06, one of the highly talented first-years, will be sidelined this season with a shoulder injury that will require surgery in December.

The women's team

The women are coming off a 5-5 record in dual meets last season. Junior co-captains RoseFigura and All-American Marx will be in charge of the women's squad this year. RoseFigura holds school records in the 200 and 400 medley relays. She also happens to be the fastest returning swimmer in the 200, 500, 1000 and 1650 freestyle. Marx holds four individual school records and is a part of two relay team all-time records, which include the 200 medley relay and the 400 medley relay. She is considered the team's most versatile swimmer.

The women's team also suffers from the loss of last year's graduating seniors, including three-time All-American Hannah Johnson '02. Johnson specialized in the one meter and three meter diving events. The Judges are hoping that Junior Shira Friedman '04 can step up and fill in for Johnson's absence.

Fellow juniors Lili Weinstein '04 and Robin Zebrowitz '04 round out the nucleus of this year's team. Both Weinstein and Zebrowitz compete in the breaststroke, and Zebrowitz also competes in the IM. The team is counting on the contributions of the rest of the upperclassmen as well as the incoming first-years to improve on last year's season.

The women will suffer from the shoulder injury to Julie Glazer '05, one of their key swimmers. Nonetheless, the women hope to improve on last year's second-to-last finish in the UAA Championship.

In this week's action

The team's first meet, against Keene State, proved to be very successful for the Judges. Both the men's and women's teams won their meets.

Marx and Rosefigura won both of their events, and Freedman won both the one meter and three meter diving events. Sarah Evans '06,Sharon Makowsky '06 and Carrie Bilodeau '05 came in first, second and third, respectively, for the 1000 freestyle event.

For the men's team, Rachlin won the 200 IM, Levin took the 100 and 300 freestyle and Pai and Goldman came in first and second, respectively, for the 200 freestyle.

"We are going to have a good season," Rosefigura said, based on the team's success at this first meet. "We have a competetive team."

Both the men's and women's teams also had a very strong meet at the Michael Zarrilli Memorial last Saturday, coming in first with a score of 135 points cumulatively. Gordon College followed with a score of 103, and Keene State finised with a score of 77 points. There were several highlights for the Judges in this meet. Pai, Marx, Goldman and Rosefigura set a meet record for the 400m Medley relay with a time of 4:02,52.

Marx, Rachlin and Cohen joined first-year Lalin Anik '06 to set a meet record for the 400 ind. medley with a time of 4:12.49. Marx, Pai, Levin and Goldman also set a meet record for the 400m streamline kick relay with an impressive time of 4:51.54. Also impressive was Goldman's swimming his first length of the pool entirely underwater.

The team hopes that their strong performance at the Michael Zarrilli Memorial Co-Ed relay Meet and in the dual meet against Keene State will set the tonefor the remainder of the upcoming season.