Their first competition was Jan. 2 at Pratt Pool against visiting Union. In the first race, the Jeffs came out strong with solid first, second and fourth place finishes in the medley relay. The team of John Ancona '07, senior co-captain Chuck Clinton and juniors Bryan Woo and Rick Estacio took first and set the pace for the meet. Sophomore Ethan Treat kept up the pace with a top finish in the 200-yard freestyle, with Clinton taking a close second. Treat followed this swim with another first-place finish in the 200-yard butterfly.
In a quick 50-yard freestyle, Woo touched a mere half-second behind Union's Elliot Seguin for a second place finish, followed closely by sophomore Adam Kaplan in third. The Woo-Kaplan duo also placed second and third, respectively, in the 100-yard freestyle, closely followed by Nick Federico '05 in fourth.
Back from his semester abroad, Adam Lewkowitz '06 took no time regaining his turf in the long-distance events, taking second in the 1000-yard freestyle and third in the 500-yard freestyle. Lewkowitz was not the only Jeff who excelled in the 500 freestyle-he was joined by Clinton, who took second in the race.
The Jeffs also welcomed back Rick Estacio '06, who returned to dominate in the backstroke events, taking second in a close 200-yard backstroke race. He was followed by freshman teammate Andrew Vasta in third. First-years Brendan Horton and Derek Prill dominated the 200-yard individual medley with second and fourth place finishes, respectively. Prill also took third in the 200-yard breaststroke, led by Ancona, who took first.
Jordan Bowling '05 headed the Jeff diving squad with a first-place finish in both the one-meter and three-meter diving events, with Connor Boyd '08 earning two second-place finishes.
The Jeffs ended their first meet of 2005 by taking second and third in the 400-yard freestyle relay to register a 141-101 victory.
"The Union meet gave us a good start to 2005 and put us in motion for a successful second half of the season," said Estacio. "There is no doubt that we will only continue to improve."
The following week, Amherst swam against a tough Williams team. The Jeffs started off strong with a first-place finish by Estacio, Woo, Ancona and Clinton in the 400-yard medley relay. Lewkowitz followed with a strong second-place finish in the 1000-yard freestyle.
Woo had two impressive races, registering first-place finishes in both the 50- and 100-yard freestyle events. Treat followed with victories in both the 200-yard individual medley and the 200-yard butterfly.
Estacio earned himself a second- place finish in a close race against 2004 100-yard backstroke National Champion Will Cunningham, while Lewkowitz swam to a strong third-place finish in the 500-yard freestyle.
The final event saw Amherst swim to a second-place finish in the 400-yard freestyle relay with the team of Estacio, Kaplan, Treat and Colin Porter '05, ending the meet with an honorable 134-109 loss.
Two weeks later, the Jeffs rebounded with a solid win in their last home meet of the season against Hamilton. Amherst started off relatively slowly, with second- and third-place finishes in the 200-yard medley relay. In the second event, however, Lewkowitz picked up the pace with a strong second-place finish in the exhausting 1000-yard freestyle, followed by Treat wins in both the 200- and 500-yard freestyle events.
Woo led the Jeffs in the short-distance freestyle events with a second place finish in the 50-yard freestyle followed by a victory in the 100-yard freestyle. In the 200-yard individual medley, Horton took first, followed by Porter in second and James Stanton '07 in fourth, while Ancona showed his strength with a second-place finish in the 200-yard breaststroke.
Federico swam an impressive race in the 200-yard butterfly for a first-place finish, followed by Lewkowitz in second. Estacio dominated the 200-yard backstroke, beating all his competitors by over three seconds.
In the absence of Bowling, Boyd stepped up to lead the Jeffs' diving squad with a second-place finish, followed by Adam Bookman '08 in third in both diving events.
In their final race at Pratt Pool, the all-senior team of Clinton, Federico, Elan Ghazal and Porter took second, finalizing the Jeffs' solid win over the Continentals.
"After an impressive meet against Williams, where we showed we were still strong, I think the Hamilton meet made the kind of statement we needed going into the final stretch," said Gach.
The end of the season will be reinforced by the addition of those juniors who were away last semester, along with the freshmen who have gained experience in collegiate swimming, including Vasta in the backstroke events and Horton in the individual medley and breaststroke events. With two dual meets remaining in the regular season, the Jeffs are sure to see more successes in the pool.
"With this positive momentum from the Hamilton meet," said Gach, "I would like to see us finish out the dual meet season with two more strong wins to send a message to the NESCAC. We are a different team now than we were when we took those two losses, and we look forward to the opportunity NESCACs will provide us to prove it."
The Jeffs continue their drive for another successful and rewarding season Saturday at MIT.