Vassar Swimming & Diving Defeat Skidmore

SARATOGA SPRINGS – The Vassar women’s and men’s swimming & diving teams had an outstanding day of action on Saturday, earning victories on the road against Liberty League-rival Skidmore College. The Brewers women earned a 146-137 over the Thoroughbreds, while the VC men bested Skidmore by a 183-107 margin.

Vassar’s women’s squad is now 3-0 in dual meet action on the season, while the Brewers’ men move to 2-1 with their victory.

The meet opened with an outstanding effort in the 200-yard medley relay as the Brewers’ women went 1-2. The event was won by the foursome of Rhea Randhawa, Stephanie Kaplan, Lillian Lowenthal and Brynn Lautenbacher, who combined for a time of 1:53.39. The second relay team was just behind, posting a time of 1:55.42 for second. Combining in that group was Jesse Ecklund, Angharad Healey, Laura Vidano and Sophie Forbes.

On the men’s side, the Brewers’ went 1-2 once again, paced by Nick D’Arrigo, Nikolas Pham, Harrison Taylor and Max White, who posted a time of 1:41.57. VC’s second relay team of Duncan Webber, Anthony Cheng, Jake Mier and Matthew Imiolek were not far off the winning mark, finishing runner-up with a time of 1:44.92.

In the women’s 1000-yard freestyle, Abby Whittington had an outstanding effort to win with a time of 11:37.11. That mark is seven seconds faster than her best time this season. The men’s side saw Robbie Perot earn the win, touching the wall with a time of 10:06.97, while Jordan Kalina backed that up with a solid second-place finish time of 10:38.96.

Turning to the 200-yard freestyle, Healey was the victor on the women’s side with a time of 2:05.16, while White earned the win for the men with a mark of 1:48.46. In the 100-yard backstroke, the Brewers’ women posted a 1-2 as Ecklund won with a time of 1:00.26, followed by Randhawa in second with a time of 1:03.55. The men’s side was captured by D’Arrigo, who touched the wall with a time of 57.62. VC also captured third and fourth as Webber and Leroy Wang notched times of 1:00.55 and 1:01.10, respectively.

Cheng earned victory for the men in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:03.43 and VC continued to earn valuable points as Jason Albaum and Nathan Johnson were third (1:08.99) and fifth (1:16.97).

In the 200-yard butterfly, Grace Myers was the winner with a time of 2:14.75, while Kendall Hayes was third with a time of 2:27.71. The men’s side saw Matthew Norris and Kalina earn second (2:09.39) and third (2:11.48), respectively.

Turning to the 50-yard freestyle, the Brewer women went 1-2-3 as Lowenthal earned the win with a time of 25.47, followed by Lautenbacher (25.56) and Forbes (26.56) for valuable points. The men’s side was also a 1-2-3 sweep as Imiolek won with a time of 22.88. Pham was second (23.24), while Perot took third (24.41).

In the women’s 1-meter diving event, Evelyn Boyle finished third with a score of 156.08 points, while on the men’s 3-meter side, Laurence Barr-Forget won with a score of 132.53 points.

Another 1-2 punch came for both the women and the men in the 100-yard free. Whittington earned the win on the women’s side with a mark of 55.83, while Lautenbacher was second with a time of 56.84. The men’s side was won by Pham with a time of 51.47, while Imiolek touched the wall second in 52.84.

Ecklund earned victory in the 200-back with a time of 2:10.47, while Randhawa was second with a time of 2:13.37. The men’s side was won by D’Arrigo, who had a time of 2:02.89. Mier took second overall with a time of 2:08.71.

Kaplan earned second overall in the 200-yard breast, while in the men’s event Cheng was the winner with a time of 2:18.88. Healey powered her way to victory in the 500-free with a time of 5:31.40 and she was followed by Hayes in second with a mark of 5:35.76. The men’s event was captured by Perot, who posted a time of 4:55.87, while White was runner-up with a time of 5:02.85.

The women’s 100-fly saw Lowenthal earn the win with a time of 59.28, followed by Myers with a mark of 1:02.90, while in the men’s event, Taylor was the winner with a time of 56.14.
Boyle then competed in her first 3-meter dive event of the season, earning third overall with a mark of 146.93 points, while Sam Murphy won the 1-meter event with a score of 131.33 points. He was followed by Barr-Forget, who had a score of 103.88 points.

Back in the pool for the 200-yard individual medley, Ecklund posted the top time with a 2:16.41, while Healey had the third best time of 2:19.66. The men’s side saw Mier own the best time of 2:06.83.

In the final event of the day, the 400-yard freestyle relay, the Vassar foursome of Lowenthal, Randhawa, Lautenbacher and Myers had the best overall time of 3:48.66, while the group of Violet Witchel, Forbes, Kaplan and Whittington had the second-best race time of 3:53.74.

The men’s side saw Imiolek, Brandon Li, Perot and White combine for the best overall mark of 3:24.94, followed by Cheng, D’Arrigo, Taylor and Kalina with a time of 3:34.31.

“We are starting to see what we are working on in the training pool transfer to the competition pool,” stated head coach Lisl Prater-Lee. “We’re excited by how this team is coming together!”