MIDDLETOWN, Conn.  -  The Coast Guard Academy women's swimming & diving team did battle with seven other teams at Wesleyan University's annual Jayden Szkirka Memorial Championship meet, finishing the event with 857 points as runners-up to the No. 22 Amherst Mammoths.

Coast Guard took first place in two of the 19 events, the majority of which were won by Amherst swimmers. Freshman Samantha Halvorson (Chesapeake, Va.) shared the top spot in the 50-yard freestyle with Mammoths sophomore Lucy Smith (Amherst, Mass.) after both women swam a 24.08. Senior Isabel Robey (Warrenton, Va.) won the 400-yard individual medley with a time of 4:35.94, while fellow senior Tailyn Schaufelberger (Austin, Tex.) finished second with a personal best of 4:39.01.

The Bears enjoyed several top-three finishes during the two-day event. In the 200-yard backstroke, Robey finished second (2:06.67), and Halvorson finished third (2:07.56). Robey also placed third in the 200-yard individual medley (2:09. 72), while Halvorson swam to second in the 100-yard backstroke (58.59) and third in the 200-yard freestyle (1:56.87). Sophomore Zoe Suhajda (Colorado Springs, Colo.) had a pair of third-place finishes in the 500-yard freestyle (5:13.18) and the 1,650-yard freestyle ( (18:22.38).

Finally, Coast Guard had two top-three finishes in relay competition. The team of sophomore Kathleen O'Shea (Mechanicsburg, Va.), senior Grace Keogh (Erie, Colo.), senior captain Ellie Hiestand(Telford, Pa.), and Halvorson narrowly outswam Amherst's B entry for second place by 0.08 seconds with a 1:39.16). Robey, Schaufelberger, Keogh, and Halvorson swam a 1:49.44 for third in the 200-yard medley relay.

The Bears will now take a break from competition until their January 11, 2025, meet at No. 3 MIT, but the team will be hard-pressed to find any days off as they head to Sarasota, Florida, for their annual winter training trip.