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‘Lifetime best swims’ cap championship

Bears finished seventh behind Princeton, and Dillione and Borgolini broke school records

The women’s swimming and diving team scored 678.5 points to finish seventh at the Ivy League Championships in Princeton’s DeNunzio Pool. The crown was won by the Tigers, who scored 1474.5 points. During the three-day competition this weekend — which was the team’s last meet of the season — Bruno competed in 22 separate events, breaking several school, season and personal records.

“We felt pretty good about it,” said Briana Borgolini ’14. “A lot of people set best times and performed well during the evening swims.”

Each day of competition featured preliminary heats through which swimmers could qualify for finals and several consolation races later in the day.

During the first day of the meet, the Bears clocked in several strong performances across the board. In the finals of the 400-yard medley relay, Catherine Pittman ’14, Leigh Holmes ’14, Kate Dillione ’15 and Borgolini broke the school record with a fifth-place time of 3 minutes, 42.77 seconds.

Earlier in the day, during the 200 freestyle relay Reia Tong ’16, Emma Lamothe ’14, Megan Nolet ’14 and Dillione finished the race in 1:32.00 — six-hundredths of a second away from a school record.

Other highlights from the first day included Tong’s time of 22.87 in the 50 freestyle, which put her fourth in the conference. Holmes clocked in the 11th-fastest time in Brown history in the 500 freestyle by completing the race in 4:57.31, and Kristin Jackson ’13 finished 12th in the 200 individual medley with a time of 2:02.53 in her final collegiate meet.

Dillione shined on the second day of the championship, breaking a school record in the 200 freestyle with a prelim time of 1:47.15. She later finished fourth in the finals, but placed her achievement in the context of the team’s performance.

“It felt awesome because I had been kind of gunning for it all year,” Dillione said. “But I couldn’t have done it without everyone else’s support, and it was ultimately for the team.”

Meanwhile, Holmes raced to a time of 55.32 in the 100 butterfly, the fifth fastest time in school history. Borgolini and Jackson finished fifth and sixth in the 100 breaststroke, with final times of 1:02.59 and 1:02.81, respectively.

Entering the last day of competition, Bruno saved the best for last. Borgolini broke the school record in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:13.97, giving her second place in the Ivy League. Much like Dillione, Borgolini prioritized her team over individual glory.

“As good as it felt to break the record, it felt even better to get points for the team,” Borgolini said. “The record’s nice, but it’s about a lot more than that.”

Jackson finished fourth in the same event, and her time of 2:15.46 placed her behind only Borgolini in Brown’s record books.

In the 100 freestyle, Dillione’s prelim time of 49.90 was the third fastest in school history, and she went on to finish fourth in the finals.

Gina Matsumoto ’16 earned fifth place in the 200 butterfly with a time of 2:00.15, the second best time ever by a Brown swimmer.

“The women really came together as a team this year,” said Assistant Coach Kristy Fuzellier. “They all took pride in training and competing with each other and for Brown. This helped us achieve so many lifetime best swims.”

The Bears’ finish capped off a season that Dillione and Borgolini  said was full of growth, in and out of the pool. Borgolini said the team’s performance was “a positive note” to end a season in which everyone became “so much closer.”

“Athletically, everyone has gotten stronger and faster,” Dillione added. “I’m proud of our finish, but I’m not content. I know we all still have goals, and we’re already looking towards next year’s meets. At this point, every day counts.”

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