Both the men's and women's swimming and diving teams took part in the University Athletic Association Invitational held at the University of Rocheseter this weekend, along with host Rochester, New York University and Canisius College.

Facing the top competition from three schools, rather than just one, Brandeis struggled to produce many victories given their numerical disadvantage. Even so, there were a few bright spots on the day.

Max Fabian '15, who picked up the only win on the men's or women's side of the meet, was positive about the competition. "This was our first multi-day invitational style meet of the season so I thought we did a great job as a team supporting one another and enjoying the experience and opportunity of racing great teams," Fabian said.

Fabian earned the Judges' only win, which came in the 1650-yard freestyle. Despite being pressured throughout the entirety of the race by NYU freshman Ryan Yue, Fabian was able to defeat Yue, finishing in 16 minutes, 45.58 seconds to Yue's effort of 16:49.54.

Fabian thought that there was a lot of room for improvement left for the squad. "There are always improvements that can be made in the technical aspects of the race such as flip turns, starts and stroke technique," Fabian said. "All of those will be a focus throughout the season."

Brian Luk '16 also had a solid day, recording three top-five finishes in the quad meet, finishing fourth in the 50-yard freestyle and the 100-yard freestyle and fifth in the 100-yard butterfly.

Edan Zitelny '17 put forth strong performances in his second collegiate competition. He placed third in the 200-yard butterfly (2:03.46) and seventh in the 100-yard butterfly (55.06).

Given both the teams' small rosters, it is important for the young talent on the teams to start strong and be dependable, even though it is very early in the season.

On the women's side of things, Joanna Murphy '17 continued her strong start to the season with a sixth-place finish in the 1650-yard freestyle (18:32.43), a seventh-place finish in the 500-yard freestyle (5:26.67) and an eighth-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle (2:03.37). She is just one of two first-years to swim for the Judges this year.

Fallon Bushee '16 placed 12th in the 200 freestyle (2:13.31), 11th in the 100-yard backstroke (1:09.26) and 13th in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:25.92).

Theresa Gaffney '16 was 10th in the 1650-yard freestyle (20:48.84) and 12th in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:59.54). She also finished 13th in the 400-yard individual medley (5:29.22) and 14th in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:25.92).

For the men, improvement with every meet will be paramount as the team has five first-years on the roster. Fabian was very optimistic about the future of Brandeis swimming this year.

"We were very lucky this year to pull in the class of freshman that we did. They are all extraordinary and hard-working people," Fabian said. "We are still trying to establish and set a high standard for Brandeis swimming and diving. We are working on recruiting to build up our numbers as well as continuing to put in the work both in and out of the pool."

Both teams will look to improve in on Saturday, Nov. 9 with an away meet against Worcester Polytechnic Institute and Babson College.