It was a sense of déjOe vu for the swimming and diving teams at their first meet of the season against Boston College Wednesday. Last year's rookie standouts shone in individual races, but the Judges didn't get enough help from the rest of their lineup to win.James Liu '10 won three races, while Hollis Viray '10 and Rachel Sawicki '10 won two and one events, respectively, but that wasn't enough against Division I Boston College. The men's team fell 140-109, while the women lost 146-108. Both teams also won Saturday's Michael Zarrill Memorial Relays, an event players described as an exhibition.

Despite the loss against BC, players said they were happy with their performance

"Some people are feeling a bit run-down, but overall, we had some really good swims, and I think, with more training coming up, we're going to do a lot better," women's team captain Keara Dekay '08 said.

On the men's side, Liu picked up where he left off after a rookie season in which he qualified for the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference championships in both the 50-meter and 100-meter freestyle races. Liu's three victories Wednesday came in the 200-meter freestyle and the 100 and 200-meter butterfly event.

"Compared to last year, I've been training really hard, and my practice times are faster," Liu said. "[My practicing] really reflected during my meets [this week]."

Liu won those three events in blowout fashion. He took the 200-meter butterfly with a time of two minutes and 3.79 seconds, nearly four seconds faster than Boston College senior Joseph Maloy, the second-place finisher. Liu also won the 200-meter freestyle by a full second over Boston College senior Michael Hogan with a time of 1:51:97, and won the 100-meter butterfly by 0.79 seconds over teammate Joshua Klitenick '11 with a time of 55:14.

Liu admitted that while he remains one of the team's youngest members, he is more of a leader now in his second season.

"People on the team definitely look up to me," Liu said. "They know I always give 100-percent effort, and they definitely rely on me, so that's different [this year]."

No other Judges swimmer was able to win an individual event. Klitenick, in his first college meet, finished second in the 100-meter butterfly and third in the 200-meter individual medley, while Nick Rice '08, Bobby Morse '08, and Zach Rubenstein '11 had second-place finishes in the 100-meter backstroke, 500-meter freestyle and 200-yard backstroke events, respectively.

On the women's side, the Judges combined to win four individual races in their loss. Viray picked up two of them, winning the 100-meter breastroke with a time of 1:13:00 and the 200-meter breastroke in 2:37:45.

Sawicki won the 200-meter butterfly event, surging ahead in the last 50 meters to edge Boston College sophomore Kellen McKnight-Slottee by six-hundredths of a second with a time of 2:17:41. Sawicki also finished second in the 100-meter butterfly with a time of 1:03:16.

Rookie Nora Bradshaw '11 won the Judges' other event, finishing the 500-meter freestyle with a time of 6:01:19.

Dekay said she was most impressed with swimmers who sacrificed themselves to race in multiple events.

"We had some kids volunteer for some longer events, so I think we're really ambitious, and that's going to help with our future," she said.

The teams next race at home against Keene State College Saturday at 4 p.m.