After being honored as part of senior day at the swimming and diving team's match against Worcester Polytechnic Institute at home last Saturday afternoon, many of the seniors on both the men's and women's teams came through with their strongest finishes of the season.The five Brandeis seniors-Zahava Alter '08, Keara Dekay '08, Jonathan Eskow '08, Charlotte Rea '08, and Nick Rice '08-combined for five event victories, as both teams routed WPI in their final home meet of the season. The women's team won 160-122 to reach a record of 3-5 on the season, while the men's team won 155-120 to improve to 5-3 on the year.

"Having both teams win on the same day is rare and finishing on a high note with good performances is key," coach James Zotz said.

Although several other players contributed to the victory, Zotz said the five wins by the seniors carried extra weight.

"It's the ideal scenario [to have significant senior impact] with their parents watching," he said. "You want them to shine on their big day."

On the women's side, Dekay and Alter each got a victory and contributed nicely with second-place finishes in other events.

Dekay won the 1,000-yard freestyle in 11 minutes, 45.91 seconds to go along with two second-place finishes in the 200-yard butterfly and the 500-yard freestyle events.

Alter took the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:31.52 and finished second in the 100-yard butterfly behind teammate Rachel Sawicki '10, who won the event in 1:00.53.

"I was watching up in the stands as [Alter] won the 200 butterfly, with her parents and siblings there literally jumping out of the stands," Zotz said. "It's great."

Sawicki also added victories in the 50-yard and 200-yard freestyle events in 27.01 seconds and 2:58.32, respectively.

Hollis Viray '10, who set a school record in the 400-yard individual medley event in a win over Clark University Jan. 23, had another strong meet, recording three first-place finishes against WPI.

She won the 100-yard and 200-yard breaststroke events in 1:11.76 and 2:24.65, respectively, and later added a victory in the 200-yard individual medley in 2:17.70.

In diving, Rea recorded NCAA qualifying marks for the third time this season, finishing with a combined score of 418.35 in winning both one-meter events.

"I thought my first five dives were really on," Rea said. "My harder dives came out really well too."

Rea said that her emotions were stronger than expected as she competed for the final time at Linsey Pool.

"I was more upset than I thought I would be," Rea said. "I really wasn't into diving my sophomore and junior year, and I was really regretful wishing I had taken more advantage of my time at Brandeis."

Rea, however, was appreciative of the support the team gave her and her classmates. Upon her request, the coaching staff allowed Rea to compete in the 100-yard breaststroke event, a race in which she normally would not participate.

For the men's team, Rice ended his home career with a victory in the 50-yard freestyle in 22.90. Eskow took third in that event, matching his best placement of the meet with his third-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle.

Eskow and Rice were also a part of the winning 400-yard freestyle relay team that Zotz thought would be essential to the team's victory.

"We ended up winning by a lot more than we expected to, I thought it would come down to the last relay," Zotz said. "Fortunately we were able to balance their best swimmers but it was good to get [Rice] and [Eskow] in there. Their performances individually helped keep our momentum going as well."

The Judges also got top performances from leading swimmer James Liu '10 and rising rookie Eli Tukachinsky '11.

Tukachinsky took both breaststroke events, winning the 100-yard in 1:06.15 and the 200-yard in 2:25.06, while Liu continued his sprinting success with victories in the 100-yard freestyle and butterfly events in 48.92 seconds and 54.47 seconds, respectively.

"In the one fly, the guy next to me was close for the first 25 [yards], but I kicked out far and won that one," Liu said. "I just went out there and got a lead and came out strong."

The Judges will next compete in the University Athletic Association Championships in Rochester, N.Y. starting Feb. 20.