Swimming and Diving Team Makes a Splash in First Competitions

The 2021-2022 season is looking bright so far for both women’s and men’s swim and dive (ASD). On Saturday, Nov. 20, both teams hosted Colby College in Pratt Pool for the season opener, before traveling to Wesleyan University on Monday, Nov. 22, to face off against their Little Three rival.

Colby

The women’s team dominated Colby in all but one event, ending with a 212-87 win over the Mules. The meet was especially triumphant for the first-year swimmers, with Cora Spelke ’25, Ali LaCroix ’25, Megan Lee ’25, and Jennifer Adams ’25 all taking the blue ribbon in at least one event. Team captain Marie Fagan ’22 led the great butterfly migration through the 200-yard medley relay and 100 and 200-yard butterfly. Meanwhile, Grace Tarantola ’23 demonstrated her endurance and grit, finishing first in the 1000-yard freestyle. Not to be outdone by the full-time water babies, diver Hannah Karlin ’22 channeled Trey Songz as she dove into first place on both the 1 and 3-meter boards.

Men’s swim and dive saw similar success in their season opener with a 188-108 win against Colby. If not for his obvious hard work and determination, something might seem a little fishy about Tor Metelmann ’25 — he scooped up three individual wins in the first meet of his collegiate career. The officials might have to check him for gills and fins next time. Gabriele-Filippo Lunardi ’25 also represented the first-years well with his win in the 500-yard butterfly. Justin Papagelis ’24 and Tyler Knightly ’24 also hit the water with a splash, each racking up individual wins as well as a third place finish in the fly and freestyle events, respectively. Team captain Scott Romeyn ’22 and Noah Scanlan ’24 also collected two individual wins each, in addition to performing well in their roles in their respective relays.

Wesleyan

Just two days later, the teams headed off to Middletown, Conn. to show the Cardinals which mascot dominates in the wild and in the water. While the Mammoths, both male and female, were expecting a win against their Little Three rival (as they had for the previous 29 and 27 years, respectively), the scores of 163-123 and 190-99 remain quite impressive. LaCroix collected three total wins, two individual in the 50 and 100-yard breaststroke events and one in the 200-yard medley relay. The other three members of the winning relay, Fagan, Tarantola, and Lauren Eng ’24, all racked up individual wins as well. Jessica Gordon ’23 also had an excellent meet, placing first in both the 100 and 200-yard freestyle events.

Following his success against Colby, Metelmann touched the wall first in the 50-yard breaststroke. Andrew Yuen ’25 demonstrated his versatility by taking the wins in the 50-yard races for both backstroke and freestyle. Other top finishers for men’s swim and dive include Malcolm Scannell ’22, Christian Moy ’23, and William Taylor ’24, all of whom collected individual wins in their races in the meet against the Cardinals.

If these first two meets are any indication of how the rest of the season will go, all signs point to 2021-22 being another season for the books for ASD. Tune in on Saturday, Dec. 4, to watch Middlebury eat Amherst’s bubbles in the team’s third meet of the season.