HARTFORD, Conn. —
The U.S. Coast Guard Academy men's swimming & diving team picked up a 201-89.5 dual meet win at in-state foes Trinity College on Saturday. Three cadet-athletes set new pool records at Trinity's facility in the process.
Coast Guard improve to 6-5, while the Bantams drop to 2-2. Trinity will get a long break from competition to prepare for the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Championships, which are set to be hosted by Bates College from February 12th-15th.
Noah Reice (Wilmington, Del.) won two events on the day, taking the 50 Free in 20.86 and going 49.12 for the pool record in the 100 Fly. The former record was 51.25, set by Connecticut College's
Sam Gill in 2013.
The day started with a mixed 200 Medley Relay. Coast Guard's team, made up of
Sam Halvorson (Chesapeake, Va.) and
Rebecca Hurst (Guilderland, N.J.) for the women's representatives and
Charles Gaines (Macon, Ga.) and Reice for the men, placed second in a tight competition. Trinity sandwiched the Bears, taking first at 1:42.08 and third with a much closer 1:42.83.
The 1000 Free was one of the closest races of the day, in which
Jay Pawloski (St. Leonard, Md.) swam 9:52.13 to take a narrow win from Trinity's
Ben Lyons by 0.04.
Patrick Young (Lucinda, Pa.) won the 200 Free in 1:45.78, while the 100 Back was another close race, this time between Bears teammates;
Zach McGowen (Springfield, Va.) took the race in 51.50, which was 0.59 faster than runner-up
Baylor Weiler (Lexington, Ky.).
Weiler earned himself a win later on in the 200 Back with a 1:54.40. The 100 Breast came down to another close finish between cadet-athletes, as
Matt Carper's (Pittsburgh, Pa.) winning time of 58.47 was 0.40 faster than
John Kaleta (Morrow, Ohio). The Bears won the tightest race of the day, which saw
Leon Zhang (Cary, N.C.) go 1:59.15 in a photo finish against Trinity's
Graham Plourde by just 0.01.
Andrew Carlson (Spring, Tex.) took the 100 Free in 46.45, and
Blaise Minckler (Hilton Head Island, S.C.) became a pool record-setter for the Bears with his winning time of 2:06.21 in the 200 Breast. Minckler's time replaced the former record of 2:08.02 set by current Trinity's
Matthew Brown in 2025.
Eliot Maravich (Pittsburgh, Pa.) touched the wall first in the 500 Free with a time of 4:48.80, while
Jason Manzo (Helotes, Tex.) became the final record-breaker of the day for the bears by going for 53.51 in the 100 IM. The former record narrowly beat out a 53.63 set by Trinity's
Dillon McDermott in 2021.
On the diving boards,
Colbrin Blanchette (Edwardsville, Ill.) placed second at 1 Meter with 153.00 points and third on 3 Meters with 161.25.
Rafael Davila (Carolina, P.R.) picked up fourth place on both boards with respective scores of 130.57 and 125.10.
The final event of the day was the 200 Free Relay. Coast Guard took first in the race on the backs of McGowen, Carlson,
Kacper Buniowski (Bridgewater, N.J.), and Reice, who swam 1:24.98.
FULL RESULTS
Bears men's swimming & diving will return next Saturday, January 31st, hosting a tri-meet with Montclair State University (5-2) and Roger Williams University (1-2).
