The excitement and anticipation of Senior Day at the Smith Swim Center Saturday afternoon was not enough to help the men's swimming and diving team prevail over Columbia, as the Bears fell to the visiting Lions 175-125. Brown could only muster four wins on the day, and Columbia completed a weekend sweep in the class of 2007's last home meet before a packed house of alumni, family and fans.
"I feel that we competed reasonably well, but we didn't do the little things," said Head Coach Peter Brown. "In this sport, races are won and lost by hundredths of seconds. When you don't do the little things, you take yourself out of the position to win close races."
In the first of many close races of the meet, Kevin Hug '08, Mike O'Mara '07, Daniel Ricketts '09 and Brian Kelly '08 bested the Lions by a mere 0.02 of a second in the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:33.94. However the Lions dominated the rest of the meet, bouncing back to win the next six events, preserving a sizeable lead for the rest of day.
Captain Peter Volosin '08 placed second in the 1,000-yard free, clocking in at 9:41.13. Ricketts was Brown's top finisher in the 200-yard free, finishing second with a time of 1:42.46. Hug led the Bears in the 200-yard backstroke, placing second with a time of 52.71.
Volosin attributed the Bears' shortcomings in the events to their inability to finish their races.
"We came out strong in the beginning of a lot of our races," he said, "But they just kept passing us in the end."
O'Mara placed second in the 100-yard breast, swimming a time of 59.04, with Ray Grant '10 finishing just behind him in third with a time of 59.42. Richard Alexander '09 took second in the 200-yard fly, leading the Bears with a time of 1:53.74. Kelly followed suit in the 50-yard free, checking in at 21.22 for another second-place finish. David Koweek '09 finished just behind Kelly, recording a time of 21.62.
"It was disheartening to get second place in so many close events," Volosin said. "It really crushed us."
Although the Bears realized their chances of winning the meet were bleak by the time the first dive break got underway, Brown's performance on the one-meter board sparked the team. William Kai Robinson '09 won the event with a score of 285.89. C.J. Kambe '10 took third in the event, recording a score of 258.44.
After the first diving event, Kelly nabbed first place in the 100-yard free with a time of 46.17. Trent Huxley '10 took third in the event posting a time of 47.27. Hug was Brown's top finisher in the 200-yard backstroke, swimming a time of 1:55.54. Grant led the Bears in the 200-yard breast, taking third place with a time of 2:10.54. Christopher Elsworth '09 then took fourth in the 500-yard free, clocking in at 4:48.52. Ricketts earned second in the 100-yard fly with a time of 51.34, while Alexander finished right behind him, checking in at 51.64.
Robinson was also the Bears' top performer in the three-meter dive, finishing in second place with a score of 282.90. Matthew Freitas '07 took third, recording a score of 273.08.
O'Mara won the last individual event of the day, posting a time of 1:55.56 in the 200 IM. Brown then took second in the final event of the meet, with the 400-yard free relay team of Huxley, Hug, Ricketts and Kelly recording a time of 3:08.22. Despite the Bears' valiant efforts at the end, it was not quite enough, and the Lions prevailed.
After his win, O'Mara summed up his last meet at the Smith Swim Center. "It was exciting but sad," he said. "It was a good opportunity to give it one last go."
The Bears will all give it one last go when they compete at the Eastern Intercollegiate Swimming League Championships Feb. 22 to 24 in Princeton, N.J.
In the upcoming weeks Brown will taper its yardage and focus on refining the little things such as their starts, turns, finishes and relay handoffs in order to ensure their success at the most pivotal meet of their season.
"We've put in a lot of hard work this season and we still have a lot of business to take care of before Easterns," Brown said. "I'm excited to see what lies ahead."
