SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - The Coast Guard Academy men's swimming & diving team visited Springfield College for both teams' final dual meet of 2024. The Bears won 11 events along the way to beating their hosts, 175-120.
Coast Guard stays undefeated at 7-0, while the Pride moves to 2-3 as they head into their final competition of 2024 at Worcester Polytechnic Institute's annual Gompei Invitational. The three-day meet will take place from December 6th to December 8th.
The Bears started the afternoon on a high note as the team of
Zachary McGowen (Springfield, Va.),
Matt Carper (Pittsburgh, Pa.),
Noah Reice (Wilmington, Del.), and team captain
Colin Twiss (Mahwah, N.J.) won the 400-yard medley relay with a time of 3:29.56.
Twiss and Reice picked up multiple individual wins during the afternoon. The 2023-24 All-American won the 200-yard freestyle (1:43.08) and the 100-yard freestyle (46.48), while Reice won the 200-yard butterfly (1:59.67) and 100-yard butterfly (50.80), with his time in the latter beating Springfield's
Jonathan Chan (Hong Kong) by a massive 0.01 seconds.
Other individual winners for Coast Guard were McGowen with a 21.88 in the 50-yard freestyle;
Eliot Maravich (Pittsburgh, Pa.), who won the 1,000-yard freestyle with a 10:12.35; team captain and 2023-24 All-American
Sean Lyman (Pennsburg, Pa.), whose 53.84 in the 100-yard backstroke outpaced teammate
Michael Carden (Kennesaw, Ga.) by just 0.62 seconds;
Isaak Fowkes (Woodbridge, Va.) with a 1:58.75 in the 200-yard backstroke; and
Grant Hudson (Peachtree City, Ga.) in the 500-yard freestyle with a 4:54.93.
Blaise Minckler (Hilton Head Island, S.C.) won the 200-yard breaststroke (2:07.14) after missing first place in the 100-yard variant earlier in the day to Springfield's
Matt Quinney (Belchertown, Mass.) by 0.03 seconds.
Colbrin Blanchette (Edwardsville, Ill.) placed third on the 1-meter (180.68) and 3-meter boards (189.75), while
Drew Harris (Murraysville, Pa.) placed fourth (161.56) and fifth (129.68). Both events were won by Springfield's
Christian Butler (North Haven, Conn.), the reigning NEWMAC Diver of the Year.
The Bears wrap up 2024 at Wesleyan University's (Conn.) Jayden Szkirka Memorial Championships. The annual two-day meet starts on December 6th at 6 p.m.
