NEW LONDON, Conn. —
The U.S. Coast Guard Academy men's and women's swimming & diving teams both suffered their first dual meet losses of the year on Saturday, with both sides of the program falling to hosts Connecticut College and fellow visitors Amherst College. Coast Guard's men lost 249-118 to Conn and 216.5-140.5 to Amherst, while the women lost 217-135 to Conn and 262-99 to Amherst.
On the men's side, Coast Guard moves to 6-2; Conn improves to 3-0 with their 212-148 win over the #20 Mammoths; and Amherst moves to 3-1; for the women, the Bears move to 8-2; the #16 Mammoths improve to 4-1 with their 251-106 defeat of Conn; and the Camels move to 1-2. All three teams will have a couple of weeks off due to the upcoming winter break. Conn is back in action on January 10th at Bowdoin College, and Amherst will return on the 2nd at Babson College.
It was a solid showing for the Bears despite, with several swimmers and relays notching top-3 finishes during the two-day meet. The women's 400 Medley Relay team of
Sam Halvorson (Chesapeake, Va.),
Rebecca Hurst (Guilderland, N.J.),
Madelyn Paxton (Mechanicsburg, Va.), and
Julia Thomas (Chandler, Ariz.) started it off with a 3:58.72 for third place; their men's counterpart of
Andrew Carlson (Spring, Tex.),
Matt Carper (Pittsburgh, Va.),
Noah Reice (Wilmington, Del.), and
Zach McGowen (Springfield, Va.) were a step up, going 3:24.31 for second place.
Both 200 Free Relays took second place. Halvorson,
Kathleen O'Shea (Decatur, Ga.),
Eleanor Murphy (McLean, Va.), and Thomas swam 1:37.57 in the women's race while McGowen,
Victor Parks (Williamsburg, Va.), Carlson, and Reice went 1:23.85 for the men. The women's 200 Medley Relay of Halvorson, Hurst, Paxton, and Thomas took third with their 1:48.71, and the men's side of
Baylor Weiler (Lexington, Ky.),
Blaise Minckler (Hilton Head Island, S.C.),
Charles Gaines (Macon, Ga.), and Reice went 1:33.57 for runners-up distinction.
Reice was the top individual swimmer between both teams, notching the only win of the weekend for the Bears with his 49.40 win in the 100 Fly alongside his 1:51.72 in the 200 Fly for second. McGowen was also impressive for the men, taking second in the 50 Free by tying with Amherst's Ethan Van De Water at 21.39 and going 51.73 in the 100 Back for third. Weiler also earned a top-3 finish by swimming the 100 Back in 51.59 for second.
The women were led by Halvorson, who took second in the 200 Back at 2:06.79 and touched the wall in 58.16 in the 100 Back for third.
Megan Doubrava (Aurora, Colo.) also took a pair of top-3s, placing third in both the 1650 Free (17:58.29) and the 400 IM (4:37.70). Thomas was a 24.75 runner-up runner-up in the 50 Free.
Men's diver
Colbrin Blanchette (Edwardsville, Ill.) nammed a pair of second places, scoring 181.75 on the 1-meter board and 166.05 on the 3-meter. Finally, Coast Guard got one more top-3 finishe when the men's 400 Free Relay team of Reice,
Troy Lee (Orange, Calif.),
Kacper Buniowski (Bridgewater, N.J.), and McGowen swam 3:06.8 for third place.
Bears swim & dive will now head to Florida for their annual winter training trip. When they get back, they'll face stiff competition in the form of reigning New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) champions MIT (Men 2-1, Women 2-2).
