The men’s swim and dive team put together the best season in program history last year, finishing with a record of 7-1. The remarkable run featured a 133-108 win over Williams College, the first time the Jeffs had beaten the Ephs since 2004. After winning 10 conference titles at the NESCAC Championships, the Jeffs finished fifth in the National Championships.
The Jeffs seek to build on the success they enjoyed last season, but they will do so without the services of last year’s seniors, including tri-captains, Christian Witzke, Josiah Bethards and Joe Scala, along with Alec Goldfield, CJ Holmes, Dan Peterson, Chris Resler and Kai Robinson. Taking the reins are senior co-captains Tad Homchick and Hunter Mims. Homchick is a sprinter that holds the team record in the 50-yard freestyle with at time of 20.75. Mims’ focus is the butterfly and middle-distance freestyle events.
Alex Fraser heads a junior class consisting of Reid Fitzgerald, Ryan Colby and Walker Peterson. Fraser holds the team record in the 100-, 200- and 500-yard freestyles as well as the national record in the 500. The Class of 2012 features a lot of strong young talent, with five swimmers who made it to the nationals in their first year. Sophomores Ryan Lichtenfels, Tim White, Bart Federak, Ben McBratney and Mike O’Connor all had strong seasons as they made an immediate impact on the swim team. Divers Gavin Front and Jareb Gleckel round out the Class of 2012. There are eight first-years joining the team: Sheng Hu, Dan Paltiel, Alex Pearlman, Jeff Helt, Daniel Schwab, Max Gilbert and Will McCarten round out a team that hopes to repeat the previous season’s success. Homchick said optimistically of the first-years, “We’ve got a good freshman class coming in.” When asked which opponent the team anticipates most Homchick answered, “Williams, definitely.” The Amherst-Williams meet will take place in January.
Women
The women’s swim and dive team had yet another strong season last year, finishing with a 7-1 record and placing fifth at nationals for its fifth straight top five finish. The Jeffs look to keep up the same level of consistency this year as they head into yet another season.
It won’t come easy though; the Jeffs lost a huge chunk of the team to graduation, losing 10 members in Alex Lee, Jackie De La Fuente, Ellen Hewitt, Margaret Tato, Kiley Wong, Sabrina Dorman, Meaghan Stern, Kara MacLaverty, Mary Marvel and Erin Morrison. This year’s captains, seniors Kendall Dacey and Kaitlin Wojnar, will try to maintain the team’s stability after losing so much of the team. Dacey admitted this may prove challenging, as “six of the 10 girls who wen to nationals graduated last year.” She added optimistically that the seniors’ departure allows for “a lot of spaces for people to move up.” Ellen Fitzgerald (a returning national competitor), Anna Haring and Chelsea McGuire are the other members of the Class of 2010 returning for another season with the women’s swim team.
This year’s junior class features Kendra Stern who won national titles in the 100 and 200 freestyles’ and placed second in the 500 free last year. Junior Brooke Bennett will return after studying abroad in the fall to join fellow juniors Erin Kennedy, Andrea Jensen, Luisa Zuo and Meggie Meisinger. Leading the sophomore class, which Dacey spoke of as “coming off of a really good year,” are Rebecca Kelley and Rebecca Thompson. Kelley holds the team record in the 50 breaststroke and qualified for nationals in the 100 breaststroke as a first-year. Thompson looks to be a key backstroker this year and could also contribute to the mid-distance freestyle events. Other sophomores looking to contribute are Kristin Ouellette, Andrea Park, Susannah Rudel and Laura Timson. In addition, 11 first-years — Cassandra Farnow, Nicole Heise, Maddy Sprung-Keyser, Emily Swett, Bobbi Mason, Katie Vincett, Chelsea Michta, Maddie Giegold, Arielle Fein, Catherine Maguire and Annie Glancy — will try to make an immediate impact on the team.
Both the men and women will open the season on Saturday at Colby.