Most people who head to Florida in January are looking for some rest and relaxation. Based upon the men's swimming and diving team's performance in its first meet since its Florida training trip, however, it's clear the Bears got a lot of training done in the sun.
Brown showed off the hard work it put in during winter training camp in its first meet of the 2007 season by defeating the University of Pennsylvania 175.5-125.5 on Saturday, Jan. 13. Swimmers Michael O'Mara '07, captain Peter Volosin '08, Kevin Hug '08 and Daniel Ricketts '09 each turned in strong performances to produce the win. Diver C.J. Kambe '10 also scored for Brown in the one-meter dive, a performance that qualified him for the NCAA Zones meet next month.
Despite many solid individual efforts, O'Mara attributed the Bears' success to the "notable team sprit" they displayed in the meet. The athletes and coaches felt the team benefited immensely from its time in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. during the winter recess.
"Along with the intense morning and afternoon practices, our training camp really helped us bond as a team," Volosin said. "At the Penn meet the team felt behind one another on the deck."
Brown began the meet with a second place finish in the 200-yard medley relay. The Bears' team of Richard Alexander '09, Brian Kelly '08, Hug and O'Mara nearly edged the Quakers, finishing with a time of 1:35.85.
Entering the first individual event on the day, Volosin said he was determined to shift the team's momentum. He nabbed first place in the 1,000-yard freestyle, clocking in at 9:36.60.
"Since we had narrowly lost the first event, I was focused on helping to steer the meet in the right direction," he said. "I wanted to improve the team's confidence and get everyone going."
Ricketts kept the team's energy elevated in the next event, placing first in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:42.48. Hug followed up with a win in the 100-yard backstroke, swimming a time of 52.59. O'Mara brought home another victory for the Bears in the next event, finishing the 100-yard breaststroke in 58.13.
Brown finished second in the next two events, with Alexander recording a time of 1:53.14 in the 200-yard fly and Kelly finishing the 50-yard freestyle in 21.73. The Bears bounced back with two first-place finishes - Kelly won the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 46.92 and Hug earned his second win of the day, swimming 1:56.21 in the 200-yard backstroke.
O'Mara also won his second event, with a time of 2:07.29 in the 200-yard breaststroke, and Volosin followed suit, picking up his second victory of the day with a time of 4:38.74 in the 500-yard freestyle. Ricketts also earned his second win of the day, finishing the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 51.25. O'Mara then recorded his third win of the afternoon in the 200-yard individual medley, swimming a time of 1:56.03.
Head Coach Peter Brown was not surprised at the performances of his swimmers at the meet.
"They are swimming at the level where they should be," Brown said. "I told them not to try to do something earth-shattering or out of this world, but just doing the things that they know they can and then good things will happen."
The Brown swimmers finished the contest strong, winning their final swimming event of the meet with a 3:08.34 time in the 400-yard freestyle relay. The swimmers secured the win for Bruno before the diving portion of the event even began.
The divers dominated across the board in their portion of the event, placing first through third in both the one-meter and three-meter events. William Kai Robinson '09 won the three-meter, recording a score of 322.50. Kambe took first in the one-meter with a score of 306.15. The first year's outstanding performance landed him a spot alongside teammate Robinson at the NCAA Zones, where the most prominent divers in the Northeast region will vie for four slots in the NCAA Championships.
"To qualify for that event is an accomplishment at any year, but the fact that he (Kambe) did it as a freshman is especially impressive," said Diving Coach Guy Pollino. "To earn that score, he had to come out and hit all six of his dives and he did."
The men's swimming and diving team will be back in action against Harvard at the Smith Swim Center on Jan. 26 and will face Yale in New Haven, Conn., on Jan. 27. Despite the stiff competition the Bears expect from their Ivy League foes, the swimming and diving team is prepared to take on all challengers.
"We are in a good place physically and emotionally," O'Mara said. "We are firing on all cylinders and we're ready to go in there and surprise a lot of people."
