Women’s Swim & Dive Takes Third At NESCACs

The women’s swim and dive team came in third place this past weekend at the NESCAC championships, finishing behind first-place Williams and second-place Tufts. Although Williams won for the sixth straight year, the Mammoths put up a strong showing with 13 athletes reaching the podium in their respective events.

Additionally, Amherst was able to bring home some hardware, as Lindsey Ruderman ’21 won 2019 NESCAC Diver of the Year and coach Kai Robinson won NESCAC Diving Coach of the Year.

Many women were involved in propelling the Mammoths to third place. Nina Fitzgerald ’21 finished in second place in the 50-yard, 100-yard and 200-yard breaststroke events.

Julia Ruggiero ’21 battled to a third-place finish in the 1,000-yard freestyle while Bridgitte Kwong ’19 took second place in the 400-yard individual medley and the 200-yard backstroke.

Natalie Rumpelt ’20 almost took the 200-yard freestyle but ended up in third place. Rumpelt followed that up with another third-place finish in the 300-yard freestyle event.

Ruderman swept the diving events, winning both the one-meter and three-meter board events. Jacqueline Palermo ’19 claimed third place in the three-meter board, furthering the Mammoth’s dominance in the diving events. Marie Fagan ’22 placed third in the 200-yard butterfly. Success across all of these events powered Amherst to 1,322 points. This was only surpassed by two of the 10 other teams. Williams had 1,873 and Tufts had 1,439.5.

Before the NCAA Championships in March, the Amherst women will have a meet against Middlebury on Feb. 24.