The men's and women's swimming and diving teams celebrated their final home meet in exciting fashion against Clark University at the Linsey Sports Center on Saturday. The men's swimming team picked up a remarkable win, triumphing over the Cougars by only one point, 131.5-130.5. Although the women fell to Clark 170-107, the squad had a successful day on an individual level.

Joanna Murphy '17 headlined the day for the women, demolishing a 1,000-yard freestyle record that has stood since 1999.

With the one-point win, the men's team enjoyed their first home-triumph since February 2009.

The victory proved to be a fitting symbol for a revamped swimming program at the renovated pool in the Linsey Sports Center.

"[The victory] did not signify a change in our program, but rather a sign that we are reestablishing ourselves," coach Michael Kotch said about the win.

However, it was unclear if the men would be able to pull off an overall victory over the Cougars, as the outcome of the competition was determined by the day's final event: the 200-yard freestyle relay.

With only a third-place finish needed to defeat Clark, the men's squad-composed of Allan Chuang '17, Max Fabian '15, Danny Icaza '17 and Joe Jacobowitz '14-swam the race in a time of one minute and 39.12 seconds, enough to propel the Judges in a narrow win against the visiting Cougars.

Jacobowitz, who anchored the relay, raced in his last home meet before graduation. He finished his leg of the race in 24.01 seconds-giving the Judges ample time to secure third place and defeat Clark.

"It was a fun race and we were all pretty excited because we knew we only needed to come in third to win the meet," Jacobowitz reflected. "I'm glad to see us win one at home before I graduate."

The men's side was victorious in other aspects of the competition as well, touching the wall first in all races except for two.

These victories included an unusual tie between Brian Luk '16 and senior Clark swimmer Clive Green in the 50-yard freestyle, in which both swimmers finished with a time of 22.30.
Luk, a consistently strong swimmer for the Judges, showed that this competition was no different, winning in both the 100-yard and 200-yard freestyle competitions.

Fabian continued his streak of success by surging once again past the long-distance competition. He won the 1,000-yard freestyle by a margin of 1.23 seconds, coming in with a time of 10:03.94.

Fabian also won the 500-yard freestyle in 5:00.17 and the 200-yard butterfly in 2:03.90.

The men continued to reel off impressive efforts this past weekend with several more winners, proving that a lack in numbers would prove to not be a major hindrance.

Jacobowitz was proud to state the outcome of the day reflected the hard work and good times the squad has recently posted.

"People have been swimming great times all season, but we usually don't win because of our small size," he commented.

David Lazarovich '16 took first in three competitions.

Lazarovich beat Clark competitors in both breaststroke events, winning the 100 in a time of 1:04.56 and the 200 in 2:21.09.

Lazarovich also won the 200 individual medley in 2:07.30.
Although the women's team could not defeat Clark, the individual swimmers had a successful day posting wins in nine out of 16 events on the afternoon.

Murphy seized the competition by not only winning the 1,000 freestyle in a time of 10:37.65, but in the process, lowering the school record by 10 seconds.

The record, previously set by Kelsa Teeters '99, has remained untouched since 1999.

Murphy had an extremely admirable performance on Saturday, cruising ahead to win the 200-yard freestyle by 17 seconds and, from there, taking the 500-yard freestyle competition in a time of 5.16:88.

Fallon Bushee '16 also won multiple events. Bushee displayed variety in the meet, clinching the victory in both the 100-yard freestyle and the 100-yard breaststroke with times of 57.44 and 1:15.70, respectively, in the two races.

Bushee was especially fundamental when it came to the Judges' victory in the 200-freestyle relay, anchoring the race with a 26.83 split en route to a Brandeis victory in a time of 1:50.42.

Meanwhile, the women's squad swept the freestyle competition, a commendable feat for such a young team like the Judges.

Margot Farnet '17 won the 50-yard freestyle in 27.53 seconds, coming in with a time less than a second ahead of the next competitor.

Looking forward, the squads will next travel to Atlanta for the University Athletic Association Championships. The Judges will take a two week break before heading south to Emory University for the conference meet on Feb. 12.