The Jeffs began the meet on the right foot Friday with a third-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle relay by the team of senior co-captain Chuck Clinton, juniors Bryan Woo and Rick Estacio and sophomore Adam Kaplan. Woo followed up with a fourth-place finish in a close race in the 50-yard butterfly. Estacio picked up Amherst's pace, breaking the Wesleyan pool record with his first-place finish in the 50-yard backstroke. Sophomore Ethan Treat earned himself a national A-cut time with his third-place finish in the 200-yard individual medley. He was followed by first-year Brendan Horton in a close fifth. In the 50-yard freestyle, Woo came up strong once again with a narrow second-place finish.
In the one-meter diving competition, senior Jordan Bowling finished in third, a mere four-tenths of a point behind the second-place diver from Williams College. First-year Connor Boyd finished sixth in his first collegiate postseason competition.
Amherst closed the night with a hard-fought race in the 400-yard medley relay. Despite a third-place time, the Jeff squad of Clinton, Estacio, Woo and sophomore John Ancona was disqualified due to a false start which cost the team 54 points. The relay of Treat, Kaplan, senior Nick Federico and first-year Derek Prill, however, earned points for the Jeffs with their 15th-place finish.
Saturday, the four disenfranchised Jeffs rebounded with a solid second-place finish in the 200-yard medley relay, earning themselves a national B-cut. Treat followed in the 400-yard individual medley, where he earned himself the meet and pool records, a national A-cut and a commanding first-place victory by nearly five seconds.
Woo took seventh in the 100-yard butterfly, while Ancona and Prill took third and eighth, respectively, in the 100-yard breaststroke.
Estacio placed second in an impressive swim in the 100-yard backstroke. In recent history, the event has been dominated by three-time NESCAC Swimmer of the Meet Will Cunningham of Williams. This year was no different, as the defending Div. III national champion edged Estacio by 1.62 seconds.
The Jeffs finished off the day with a respectable fifth place from Treat, Lewkowitz, Horton and Colin Porter '05 in the 800-yard freestyle relay.
The final day of competition began with a strong start for the Jeffs. Estacio earned himself another national A-cut and NESCAC meet record with his solid victory in the 200-yard backstroke. Clinton followed with a seventh-place finish in the 100-yard freestyle. The Jeffs continued to dominate in the 200-yard breaststroke, where Horton earned himself a national B-cut with his second-place finish. He was closely followed by Ancona in fifth and Prill in sixth.
"Horton really showcased the kind of talent, most notably in the 200-yard breaststroke, that may eventually lead to several of his own NESCAC titles over his Amherst career," said senior co-captain Dan Gach.
Treat came up with another sensational swim, this time in the 200-yard butterfly where he earned himself another national A-cut and the pool record.
On the diving board in the final diving event of the weekend, Boyd stepped up and finished in second in the one-meter contest.
The Jeffs finished the meet with 1,264 points, good enough for third place. Williams College took home the team title with 1,862 points, followed by Middlebury College with 1,351.5.
"I think this season ended on a good note, as almost everybody on the team was able to achieve a strong swim somewhere throughout the weekend," said Gach. "I am extremely proud of this team, and I am proud of the way this season finished up."
Now that all team competition has ended, the seniors will pass their leadership down to the class of 2006. "I am incredibly comfortable handing this team over to the juniors," said Gach. "Their talents in the pool and personal strengths out of the water make them more than capable of leading this team to new levels next year."
"This year's freshman class has proven itself to be a force on the team and one that I am sure will only grow stronger in the pool and on the diving boards over the next three years," said Gach.
Though the season has come to an end for most swimming Jeffs, seven men-Clinton, Estacio, Treat, Woo Horton, Kaplan and Ancona-have earned, at least provisionally, the right to travel to Hope College in Holland, Mich., for the NCAA Div. III Swimming and Diving Championships on March 17-19.