The men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams both opened the season with two convincing victories. Each team received contributions from a strong rookie class, along with a number of dominating performances by returning veterans.

Women

On Nov. 17, the women travelled to Colby College to face the Mules in their season opener. Senior captain Brittany Sasser, coming off an incredible 2006-07 season, won the 100- and 200-yard backstroke events. Junior Meaghan Stern also started the season strong, taking first in the 100- and 200-yard freestyle events. In addition to the usual suspects, the Jeffs received key contributions from newcomers; first-year Meggie Meisinger placed first in the one- and three-meter boards in the diving competition. The Jeffs earned a 143-119 victory over Colby, winning 13 of the 16 events.

After their convincing victory in Maine, the women travelled to Middletown, Conn. to take on Little Three rival Wesleyan University. Dominating in a fashion similar to their previous pummeling of Colby, the Jeffs defeated the Cardinals 143-95. Meisinger again took first place in the one- and three-meter diving events, and Sasser repeated her first-place finishes in the 100- and 200-yard backstroke events. Again, it was a Stern who took first in the 100- and 200-yard freestyle events, but this time it was first-year Kendra Stern, Meaghan’s younger sister.

“The first two meets went pretty well for the women’s team,” said Meaghan Stern. “Meggie Meisenger, our only diver while Sabrina Dorman ’09 is abroad, qualified for Nationals at the Wesleyan meet.”

This upcoming weekend, the women will face Middlebury College, which should be one of the Jeffs’ toughest opponents in the conference this season. “The meet this weekend will be the true test of our efforts, and I expect to see some great breakout swims, especially from the Class of 2011,” said Sasser.

Men

The men’s team also started the season off in strong fashion, receiving contributions from both the new and the old in a clean sweep and 141-102 win over Colby. The highlight of the meet was first-year Ryan Colby’s victories in the 1650- and 700-yard freestyle events. Colby’s strong performance against the mules in the 1650 set a new pool record with a time of 16:45:89. Another first-year, Reid Fitzgerald, picked up wins in the 100- and 200-yard backstroke events, and senior captain Andrew Maslan placed first in the 200-yard breaststroke and 200-yard individual medley. Fellow senior Connor Boyd won two diving events.

The meet against Wesleyan was more of the same, as the men earned a 137-104 victory. Boyd and Colby picked up victories in the same events as they did against the Mules, and junior Christian Witzke also repeated his success; for the second straight meet, he placed first in the 100- and 200-yard freestyle events.

Both the men and women will test their 2-0 records against Middlebury this upcoming Saturday at 1 p.m. at Pratt Pool.