In a season of just 10 meets, it is rare for the men's and women's swimming and diving teams to compete against the same team multiple times.

At the Worcester Polytechnic Institute Gompei Invitational, held this past Saturday and Sunday, the Judges had a chance to strike back against WPI after a defeat earlier this season.
Brandeis made large strides in their second meeting featuring the Engineers.

The men placed fifth in the tournament with 994 points while the women took home an eighth-place finish, scoring 394 points.

David Lazarovich '16 credited the Judges' knowledge of the pool as a reason for their success.

"We were one of the first teams to swim in that pool [on Nov. 9] and we felt confident swimming in the pool because we've been there already," he said.

Max Fabian '15 once again led the way for the Judges with two top-10 finishes.

Fabian began the second day of the tournament with a pool record-breaking time of 16 minutes, 33.50 seconds in the 1650-yard freestyle, just 20 seconds off his personal record and a mere 17 behind the NCAA Championship "B" cut.

The Judges also got a strong performance from Edan Zitelny '17 who recorded four top-10 finishes over the course of the tournament, including a fourth-place finish in the 400-yard individual medley. Zitelny's time of 4:20.63 in the event left him just one-tenth of a second outside of the top three finishers.

Brian Luk '16 notched a fifth place finish in the 100-yard freestyle, swimming the race in 48.02 seconds. His time proved to be 53 tenths of a second off the pace of his personal best and just 13 tenths of a second behind the fourth place finisher from WPI.

Although he could not best his personal record, Luk is aiming higher than that.

"My goal is to break the Brandeis school record by the end of this season," he explained.

Lazarovich took eighth in the A finals of the 200-yard backstroke in 2:20.28 seconds and won the B finals-11th-place-of the 100-yard breastroke in 1:03.69 seconds.

Luk was impressed with the effort turned in by the Judges.
"The team overall did fantastic I think," he said. We went against some really good schools, especially the host WPI. The two-day meet is physically challenging but we were able to turn the page."

The women's team, meanwhile, was led by Joanna Murphy '17, who took home third place in the 1650-yard freestyle in 18:07.48 seconds, a time just 3.3 seconds behind the second place finisher.

Murphy also recorded a top-10 finish in the 200-yard freestyle, concluding the event in 2:06.18 seconds, good for sixth place.

Gabby Drillich '15 also performed well for the Judges, securing an 11th place finish in the 400-yard individual medley with a time of 5:06.05 seconds, and 14th place in the 200-yard butterfly, finishing at 2:29.84 seconds.

Fallon Bushee '16 recorded two trips to the B finals of the meet, earning a 14th place finish in the 200-yard freestyle at 2:05.85 seconds and 18th place in the 100-yard freestyle at 58.82 seconds.

Both teams return to the pool in a home meet against Trinity College on Jan. 18 at 1 p.m.
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