The men's and women's swimming and diving teams coughed and wheezed all day due to an over-chlorinated pool, battling through the pain to end the season on a positive note. Proving especially resilient was woman's captain Sharon Makowsky '06, who overcame the conditions to post a school record-setting time in the 400-yard individual medley. The men's team finished second and the women's team finished seventh at the New England Championship at the University of Massachusetts in Dartmouth Feb. 18-20, as the Judges worked their way through a pool plagued with technical problems that impeded the swimmers."We are all sick because they had too much chlorine in the pool and everyone was coughing and had headaches," Hal Grossman '07 said.

Despite the obstacles, the men's team exhibited strength in the relay competition with five top-three finishes, including first place in the 400-yard freestyle race. Grossman, who has the most overall top-five finishes this season, finished first in the 1000-yard freestyle and broke his personal record with a time of 10:05.14.

But Grossman said he was disappointed with the meet's outcome.

"We really had a shot to win and to come in third or to come in second really wasn't that great," he said.

Grossman also finished second in both the 500-yard freestyle and 200-yard butterfly races, with times of 4:50.84 and 2:03.18, respectively.

"In the [200-yard butterfly] I choked on water as I was swimming," Grossman said. "I think I had a chance of winning but I couldn't breathe, and on the fifth lap I stopped at the wall while I was choking on water."

In the last meet of his Brandeis career, captain Lev Davidson '06 finished third in the 50-yard breaststroke with a time of 28.15 seconds, and third in the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:19.13. Captain Matt Lerman '07 finished in fourth place, two hundredths of a second behind Davidson, in the 200-yard breaststroke.

Davidson and Lerman accomplished a similar feat in the 100-yard breaststroke, with Davidson placing fifth and Lerman sixth, with times of 1:03.17 and 1:03.54, respectively. Lerman also came in sixth in the 50-yard breaststroke, with a time of 29.07 seconds.

Todd Berman '07 also ended his season strongly, placing in the top five in three events, including a second-place finish in the 50-yard butterfly with a time of 24.71 seconds.

Players say the team is looking to improve on what they consider a successful season.

"We're only losing four [seniors], and they were important to the team but we'll probably stay the same or get better," Grossman said.

On the women's side of the meet, the seniors displayed why they will be sorely missed next year.

Makowsky had an accomplished meet with three top-three finishes. She placed third in the 100-yard butterfly race with a time of 1:00.94 before her biggest accomplishment of the night, a first in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 4:44.94.

In the 400-yard individual medley, Makowsky placed second and broke the school record and her personal record with a new time of 2:15.77.

"I was happiest with the 400 individual medley race. It was my only [personal record] this season," Makowsky said.

Captain Sarah Evans '06 placed fourth in the 200-yard individual medley in 2:20.38. Also ending her Brandeis career was Lalin Anik '06, who placed second in the 50-yard butterfly in 27.73 seconds and fifth in the 50-yard backstroke with a time of 30.22 seconds.

Makowsky said the graduating seniors will leave a big gap in the team.

"Six people is a big class and we've all contributed from a scoring standpoint and team building standpoint," she said.

But the meet was a positive end to a season that had its ups and downs, Makowsky said.

"People had fantastic meets and walked away with best times that they didn't get at UAAs," she said. "From a team standpoint we ended the season on a high.