The men's and women's swimming teams placed second at the New England Division-II-III Championships at Bentley College on Feb. 18-20. Both the men and the women finished behind Division-II Bentley College though the men were just two points short of first place.

Three men's swimmers finished the season in qualifying position for the NCAA championships. Swimmers who rank in the top 18 of every event each year qualify and also earn the right to swim in two other events at nationals.

Matt Christian '05 qualified for nationals in the 400-yard individual medley, Chris Pai '07 qualified in the 100-yard freestyle and Leonard Rosefigura '07 qualified in the 200-yard freestyle.

Christian won three individual events and four relays, earning Swimmer-of-the-Meet honors at Bentley.

"I am extremely proud of the way both teams performed at the New England championships," Coach James Zotz said. "We had a great effort from the team and some outstanding individual performances."

The women's team was anchored by Charlotte Rea's '08 strong performance in the diving competition. Rea won the one-meter event with a score of 337.25 and came in second in the three-meter competition with a score of 336.10.

Rea tallied points for the Judges in the 200-yard freestyle relay and the 50-yard freestyle individual, where she came in second and eighth place respectively.

"[Rea] had a great meet and the whole team is very proud of her," Sharon Makowsky '06 said.

Makowsky won the 400-yard individual medley in 4:47.97 and the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:12.54. She also placed third in the 100-yard butterfly.

The men's team had several individual stars at the New England Championships, led by Christian. Christian won a total of seven events and set five Bentley and three Brandeis records in the process. This will be Christian's first year competing in the NCAA championships.

"It's very exciting," Christian said. "It's always been a goal of mine. It's such an honor to compete at the national level."

The Judges had five other individual winners at Bentley. Pai, who was Swimmer-of-the-Meet at the New England Championships last year, won three events for the Judges.

Pai captured victories in the 50-yard freestyle in 21.68 seconds, the 50-yard butterfly in 23.70 seconds and the 100-yard individual medley with a time of 54.25. Rosefigura won the 100- yard freestyle in 48.26 seconds.

The NCAA Championships will be held on March 17 at Hope College in Michigan.