The Brandeis men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams competed at Worcester Polytechnic Institute on Nov. 1. The women’s team faced WPI, Babson College, Smith College and Simmons College, while the men faced only WPI and Babson. Though none of the teams were Brandeis’ University Athletic Association rivals, these recent meets have still been important, as both squads are gearing up for the UAA championships that will take place in February.

Women’s Squad

During the meet hosted at WPI, the Judges defeated two teams and lost to two teams. Their worst loss was against host team WPI with a score of 74.5–218.5. Their loss against Babson ended with a score of 99–160. The Judges’ victories were against Smith, with a score of 168–125, and Simmons, with a score of 148–141. With these results, the women’s team has a record of 2–4 for the season so far.

None of the Judges were able to make first-place finishes in either the relays or the individual races. Bailey Gold ’23 had an impressive showing, finishing two races as  the first runner-up. In the 100-yard backstroke, she placed second with a time of 1:02.52. In the 100-yard butterfly, she placed second as well, with a time of 1:01.07. In her third race, Gold was not as successful, but persisted as she placed fourth with a time of 2:04.20 in the 200-yard freestyle.

Many other women’s swimmers made relatively strong showings placing across the board. Although newer to the squad, Christina McPhillips ’23 placed second in the 50-yard butterfly with a time of 28.36. In the 100-yard freestyle, Uajda Musaku '21 placed second with a time of 56.46. 

In the relays, the women proved slightly less successful than the men’s squad. McPhillips, Musaku, Ema Rennie ’23 and Audrey Kim ’23 placed third in the 400-yard freestyle relay with a time of 3:49.81.

Men’s Squad

While the men faced only two teams, WPI and Babson, they too split their wins and losses. Their victory against WPI ended with a score of 141–131 and their loss to Babson ended with a score of 119.5–142.5.

The Judges raced in relay events, but the team was unable to place first in any of them. In the 400-yard medley, Brendon Lu ’22, Tamir Zitney ’20, Matthew Arcemont ’20 and Marcelo Ohno-Machado ’21 placed second with a time of 3:36.54. In a separate relay, the 400-yard freestyle, Wohl, Arcemont, Zitelny and Ohno-Machado placed second with a time of 3:13.69.

In individual competition, Brendon Lu ’22 proved to be a force to be reckoned with during two separate breaststroke events, the 50-yard and the 100-yard, and during the 400-yard individual medley. His times for each of these events was 28.24, 1:01.55 and 4:23.83, respectively. Lu was the most successful Brandeis swimmer from both the men’s and women's teams and was a large contributor to the wins that the men's team earned that day. In the 400-yard freestyle, Lu won in a close race, just barely beating teammate Joshua Liu ’23.

Daniel Wohl ’21 was also able to place first in a race, but it was a tie with a swimmer from Babson in the 200-yard freestyle, both finishing with a time of 1:43.35. Although these were the Judges’ only wins for the day, there were several Brandeis swimmers who placed second in their events. Richard Selnick ’21 placed second in two different races. His times were 4:58.93 in the 500-yard freestyle and 10:20.18 in the 1000-yard freestyle. Zitelny  placed second in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 51.42.

Next, the Judges will take on Bentley University at their campus  on Friday, Nov. 15.