The men's swimming and diving team battled a tough Columbia squad down to the wire on Saturday but came up short, dropping the match 127-116. The loss cuts the Bears' record down to 2-4 overall and 2-3 in the Ivy League, while the Lions improved to 7-2 and 5-1.
The team could not be happier despite the loss, as its members continue to improve their times with the Eastern Intercollegiate Swimming League Championships only a few weeks away.
"Everyone swam really well," said Eric Brumberg '06. "I think we surprised Columbia with how fast we went."
Bruno picked up wins in seven of the 13 events. Six of the victories came from three swimmers - Brumberg, Brian Sharkey '06 and Peter Volosin '08 - who notched two wins apiece. A solid core of top finishers may enable the Bears to upset larger, deeper teams during the championship season, in which teams race fewer swimmers.
Brumberg's two wins came in the 200-yard individual medley and the 200-yard backstroke. The co-captain began the day by leading the 400-yard medley relay team, which also included Grant Garcia '08, Richard Alexander '09 and Brian Kelly '08, to a second-place finish in the first event of the day.
Sharkey set a blistering pace in the 50-yard freestyle to pick up his first win in 21.33 seconds, while Kevin Hug '08 swam to third place with a time of 21.89. Three events later, Sharkey sprinted to victory in the 100-yard freestyle in 46.95. Kelly's 47.56 was good for third place in that event as well.
Volosin cleaned house in the distance events, winning the 1,000-yard freestyle in 9:32.29 and the 500-yard freestyle in 4:41.18. His time in the 1,000-yard freestyle was two seconds better than that of the second-place finisher, Columbia's Henning Fog.
On the boards, rookie standout William Kai Robinson '09 took second in both the 1- and 3-meter events with scores of 280.27 and 290.85, respectively.
Bruno won the 200-yard freestyle relay in the final event of the day. The team of Rob Reinhardt '08, Hug, Kelly and Sharkey posted a time of 1:24.20 to secure the win, 0.18 seconds ahead of Columbia.
Brumberg attributes the team's fast times to a combination of coaching, preparation and unity within the squad. The formula, he hopes, will carry the Bears through a tough two-week stretch. Bruno will face Cornell on the road next weekend and Yale at home the following week.
"We've never had this many meets this late in the season, so it's hard to know what to expect," Brumberg said. "But, we've been swimming really well as a team, so I think we've got a good shot at beating (Cornell)."
Brown will meet the Big Red in Ithaca, N.Y. at noon on Saturday.
