Worcester, Mass. —

The 25th-ranked United States Coast Guard Academy men's swimming & diving team started their season with a quad meet sweep at Worcester Polytechnic Institute on Friday night. The Bears defeated the hosting Engineers, 205-92; Babson College, 208-87; and Brandeis University, 237-47.

Returning All-American and senior captain Noah Reice (Wilmington, Del.) led the way with a pair of wins, taking the 50 free in 20.84 seconds and the 100 fly in 49.66 seconds. Sophomore Baylor Weiler (Lexington, Ky.) also notched a pair of wins as the first to touch the wall in the 100 back (52.21) and 200 back (1:56.54). Fellow third-class Drew Carlson (Spring, Tex.) was second in the 100 at 53.02, while the 200 saw junior Luke Giguere (Belchertown, Mass.) place third at 1:59.40 with senior captain Jordan Jansen (Tampa, Fla.) following in fourth at 2:00.85.

The Bears made it a great day for debuts. Adriel Sun (Torrance, Calif.) led the freshmen by placing first in the 200 breast at 2:08.73 and the 200 IM at 1:58.27. Senior Matthew Carper (Pittsburgh, Pa.) and sophomore Leon Zhang (Cary, N.C.) were the respective runners-up, with Zhang adding a win in the 200 fly (1:55.88).

Hudson Newsom (Littleton, Colo.) and Ben Hinds (Rochester, N.Y.) continued the trend of impressive first meets for the Bears freshmen. Newsom won the 100 breast at 56.83, followed by Sun in second (59.29). Hinds also notched an event win, taking the 100 free in 46.53 and adding a runner-up performance to Reice in the 100 fly (51.23).

Patrick Young (Lucinda, Pa.) saw a solid start to his junior season, placing second in the 200 free (1:44.83) and third in the 100 variant (47.51). Senior captain Blaise Minckler (Hilton Head Island, S.C.) was second in the 500 free at 4:53.45, immediately followed by sophomore Jay Pawloski (St. Leonard, Md.) at 4:58.50 and freshman Josh DeMarco (5:00.94). The latter two swapped placed in the 1000 free, with DeMarco clocking in at 10:19.03 and Pawloski at 10:21.06.

Senior Corbin Blanchette (Las Vegas, Nev.) was the top Bear on the boards, taking third on the 1-meter with 155.95 points and fourth on the 3-meter with 132.25 points. Coast Guard won both relays as Weiler, Newsom, Hinds, and Reice opened the day a 200 medley win in 1:32.71 while the team of Carlson, Hinds, Weiler, and Reice closed the day by taking the 200 freelay in 1:23.86.

Coast Guard men's swimming & diving is back in action next Saturday, November 7th, as they travel to Norton, Massachusetts, for a tri-meet at Wheaton College with Springfield College.