The final outcome for the Boston College women's swimming and diving team once again came down to the last event of the meet on Tuesday against Boston University at the Flynn Recreational Complex. The women's team needed to come in first and second, but finished first (by .31 seconds) and third (by .29 seconds). The final score was 151-149 in favor of BU.
"This was outstanding. We came in here knowing if we swam well we could bring it down to the last relay. Any finish reversed, a second instead of a third, could have turned the meet into a tie," said BC coach Tom Groden.
BC won both of the butterfly events. Caryn Switaj took first in the 200-yard butterfly, one-tenth of a second ahead of BU's Emily Munday. Mari Wunschel came in first in the 100-yard butterfly, third in the 200 of the same stroke, and second in the 200-yard individual medley, splitting BU's top two girls in what is often the Terriers' best event.
"Mari Wunschel had an exceptional meet. Her 200 fly, 100 fly, and 200 individual medley were just so good. To put all those swims in one meet is really great," Groden said.
Groden also commended Katie Fritsch, who won both her individual events. Fritsch swam the 100-yard backstroke in 1:00.86, just under half a second behind the team's season best, which Tanya Suryoutomo holds. Fritsch's 2:09.49 in the 200-yard backstroke won first place and beat the season best, which was held by Amy Bromann.
Caroline Byron won the 100-yard and 200-yard freestyles, but competed (and took third) in the 500-yard freestyle instead of the 50-yard, which she typically swims. "I messed her up a little bit and I put her in the 500, trying to knock off their distance girls. It backfired a bit because we didn't win the 50, which I thought we would, but it wasn't because anyone didn't swim well. Caroline had a very good time in the 500," Groden said.
After Wunschel took second in the individual medly, the meet came down to the last event: the 200-yard freestyle relay. Groden split his relays, putting two of the top swimmers in each of two relay teams. This risky move made it a close race, each of the top three separated by about three-tenths of a second. The Eagles came close but fell short of what would have been an upset.
BC's swimmers came in first in half of the 14 swimming events. If there had been no diving, the score would have been 139-123 in favor of BC. BU, however, won an additional 28 points from diving, and BC only earned 10. BU's Tess Waresmith won first place in both the 1-meter and 3-meter diving events. Waresmith holds the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association record for 1-meter diving from her high school success. On Tuesday, with a score of 306.30, she broke the Flynn Recreational Complex pool record of 285.00, previously set by BC's Kristen Gray in 2001.
The Eagles swam their last home meet yesterday, and they swam well. "The captains did a great job getting the team ready for the meet, in every aspect not just swimming. The guys were really great in cheering too," Groden said. The men showed up to support the women, rocking the pool with the noise. The women performed perhaps better than expected; they gave the Terriers a real run for their money, almost winning it.
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