With back-to-back meets against Ivy League foes Harvard and Yale looming, the men's swimming and diving team had known for a while that the last weekend in January would be their toughest of the season. Battling fatigue, the stress of a new semester and the pressure of the upcoming Easterns meet, the Bears suffered two lopsided losses to Harvard and Yale this weekend.
"We just have to take our lumps and move on," said Head Coach Peter Brown. "This is always a tough weekend for us, but I felt they competed well in spite of the situation they were in."
On Friday, the Bears fell to the Crimson 179-116. Brown finished third in the first event of the day, when the 400-yard medley relay team of Daniel Ricketts '09, Grant Garcia '08, Zack Levko '10 and Paris Hays '10 swam a time of 1:52.42. Rob Glenn '08 placed fourth in the first individual event, finishing the 1,000-yard freestyle in 10:12.73. Richard Alexander '09 then nabbed the Bears' first win of the day, swimming the 200-yard freestyle in 1:44.01.
In the next event, Levko earned second place in the 100-yard backstroke, recording a time of 54.30. Ray Grant '10 followed with a time of 59.65 in the 100-yard breaststroke for another second-place finish.
Ricketts took first place in his second event of the meet, recording a 1:54.34 time in the 200-yard butterfly, with Glenn finishing just behind him in 1:57.50. Kevin Hug '08 then placed second in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 21.91 seconds and David Koweek '09 finished after him with a time of 22.26.
In the diving portion of the meet, Kai Robinson '09 placed second on the 1-meter board with a score of 305.77.
Coming off the dive break, Hays took second in the 100-yard freestyle, completing the event in 48.35 seconds. Mike O'Mara '07 followed suit, earning another second-place finish for the Bears with a time of 1:58.70 in the 200-yard backstroke.
Robinson won the final diving event of the meet, earning a score of 319.20 on the 3-meter dive. C.J. Kambe '10, who qualified for the NCAA Zones with his performance against the University of Pennsylvania two weeks ago, finished second in the event with a score of 310.50.
Brown's 200-yard individual medley team of Tucker Wetmore '10, Brian Kelly '08, Trent Huxley '10 and Hug won the final event of the meet, recording a time of 1:25.19.
The Bears turned right around and faced Yale in the second meet of the weekend, on Saturday afternoon. Bruno sustained a 181-119 loss to the host Bulldogs. Though five individuals and the 400-yard relay team won events for Brown, the team's failure to capture any highly contested races factored in the loss.
"We did really well for the first half of the meet," said captain Peter Volosin '08. "But we lost a lot of close races in the end, and that made a huge difference."
The Bears' 200-yard relay team of Hug, O'Mara, Ricketts and Kelly finished a close second in the first event of the day, posting a time of 1:33.59. Volosin helped the team bounce back with a victory in the 1,000-yard freestyle, clocking in at 9:39.25. Hug then finished third in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 52.61. O'Mara also took a third-place finish, swimming the 100-yard breaststroke in 59.95. Alexander pulled out a victory in the third event for Brown, clocking in at 1:52.64 in the 200-yard butterfly. Kelly posted a fourth win for Bruno in the 50-yard free, earning a time of 21.38 seconds and Wetmore also placed in the event, taking third with a time of 21.87.
During the first dive break of the day, Matthew Freitas '07 earned third place in the 1-meter dive with a score of 275.55. After Freitas' performance, the Bears picked up where they left off.
Kelly swam the 100-yard freestyle in 46.20 for second place, while Huxley finished third, recording a time of 47.39. Hug followed suit, placing third in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1:56.28. Volosin took second in the 500-yard free, clocking in at 4:44.39, while Ricketts placed third in the 100-yard butterfly, swimming a time of 50.52.
Robinson placed first in the meet's second diving event, the 3-meter dive, earning a score of 317.47. To round out the swimming portion of the meet, O'Mara finished third in the 200 IM, posting a time of 1:56.93 in the final individual event of the meet. Hays, Ricketts, Huxley, and Kelly won the final event of the meet, recording a 3:07.43 time in the 400-yard free relay.
The losses did not distract the team from its focus on the upcoming Easterns tournament. If anything, they should serve as motivation moving forward.
"We can't get too caught up in the wins or losses," Brown said, "We look at dual meets as stepping stones to our championship meets. We have to learn from them and grow from them."
In its last home meet of the season, the men's swimming and diving team will celebrate Senior Day on Saturday at 4 p.m. against Columbia at the Smith Swim Center.
"It will be a very special occasion for us," Brown said.
