After countless hours of preparation since their last intercollegiate meet Oct. 28, the men's and women's swim teams proved that practice makes perfect in their first sweep of the season, beating Babson College Thursday 126-103 and 120-88. It was the women's first win of the season, giving them a 1-2 record, while the men are now 2-1 after their second straight win."We've had to take our practices a little more seriously lately," Keara Dekay '08 said.

"The past two weeks our team has been working really hard, and I guess it just all paid off," Wellins said. "We have been swimming 8,500 yards, which is like 5 to 6 miles, during practices."

The women were led by Dekay and rookie Hollis Viray '10, who each won two races to pick up one-third of the team's points. Dekay won the 1,000-yard freestyle and 200-yard butterfly with times of 11 minutes, 42.41 seconds and 2:29.81. She also captured second place in the 500-yard freestyle, only behind Viray, who won the event in 5:33.58. Viray also triumphed in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 2:03.89, less than three seconds better than Babson junior Erica Salisburry.

"All the hard work that I've been putting in has contributed to my success," DeKay said.

For the third straight meet, the squad was backed by important contributions from their rookies. Rachel Sawicki '10 won the 200-yard intermedley in 2:21.67, while Donna Kremer '10 took the 100-yard freestyle in 58.35. Lisa Rice '10 finished second in the 1,000-yard freestyle event and third in the 500 freestyle.

The women also received solid contributions from all three of their divers. Charlotte Rea '08 led the way in the one and three-meter dives, with scores of 219.67 and 219.86.

The men's team was also boosted by its rookies, including Bobby Morse '09, Justin Wellins '10 and James Liu '10, each of whom placed first in two individual events. Wellins and Liu also captured the 400-yard medley with captains Todd Berman '07 and Matt Lerman '07.

"With the amount of talent in this year's freshman class, I think all of the upperclassmen have had to step it up," Morse said.

For the second straight meet, Liu took first place in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:49.87. He also triumphed in the 200-yard butterfly in 2:07.07, edging teammates Hal Grossman '07 and Jon Eskow '08.

In addition, Bobby Morse '09 won the 500 and 1,000-yard freestyle events with times of 5:13.10 and 10:45.39.

"I think every guy on our team does an amazing job," Wellins said. "We are becoming a really strong team with a real strong bond."

The men hope to hand Bentley College their first loss at 6:30 p.m. today.