The Dickinson College men’s and women’s swimming teams traveled to Franklin and Marshall on Saturday, Feb. 3 for their first quad meet of the season. Cabrini College and SUNY New Paltz competed alongside the Diplomats as well. The meet consisted of almost every event in college competition but the men were ready and excited to compete.

Will Freeman ’19 led the way earning two wins in the 200 individual medley and the 200 breastroke. He was also able to secure second place in the 100 breastroke. Freeman did not stand alone in his capturing of victories.

Mitchell Reynolds ’18 won the 1000 freestyle, came in second in the 500 freestyle, and secured third place in an out of character 200 butterfly.  As the day progressed, many members of the men’s team had strong swims and posted impressive results.

Kiernan Jordan ’19 asserted his dominance in the butterfly events taking first and second in the 200 and 100 butterfly respectively. Following along the same path, Ben Shapiro ’19 took third in the 200 individual medley and second in both sprint freestyle events, the 50 and the 100 freestyle.

Every member of the team pushed hard to the finish in their events. Tyler Catania ’21 placed third in both the 100 and 200 freestyle as well as securing fourth in the 100 butterfly.

Overall the men had a very strong day. Catania, Allen Belo ’18, Jordan and Graham Novitch ’20 the day with a second place finish in the 400 freestyle relay.

Unfortunately, the men fell to Franklin and Marshall by the final score of 143.5 -115.5, but they were able to capture wins against Cabrini, 196-48 and New Paltz, 181 – 76. Their record now advances to 6-5 overall and 1-3 in the Centennial Conference.

To start out the day for the women, the 200 medley relay took to the water securing a second place finish. The relay consisted of Katie Schmidt ’19, Hannah Griffith ’21, Molly Sternick ’21, and Sammy Holden ’18. The team fought until the final lap, only being beaten by a few milliseconds.

Each of the swimmers in the relay had strong showings throughout the course of the day. Schmidt captured a win in the 200 backstroke and placed second in the 100 backstroke. Griffith won both the 100 and 200 breaststroke. When asked to speak about how she felt after the 200 breaststroke she commented, “It was amazing to win both…in our recent quad meet. It always feels good to know your training has paid off.”

In addition to Schmidt and Griffith, Sternick won the 100 fly and came in third in the 50 freestyle and Holden came in fourth in the 200 freestyle and individual medley.

Each of these swimmers instilled excitement in the team to keep pushing through each event. Olivia Lyman ’19 felt the empowerment her team was providing and won both the 500 and 1000 freestyle, coming in second in the 200 freestyle.

This meet was a perfect example of what the Centennial Conference Championships will look like just three weeks from now. After a day of competition, the Red Devils secured a 2-1 finish against the weekend’s competition. The Red Devils unfortunately fell to Franklin and Marshall 107-154, but they beat both Cabrini 209-42 and SUNY New Paltz 174.5-83.5. The women advance their record to 7-5 overall and 2-3 in the conference.