Both the men's and women's swimming teams faced off against BU on Friday in a dual meet against the Terriers. This was the last home meet for the 23 seniors on the teams, and fans and family packed the mezzanine seating. Unfortunately the Eagles were defeated on both sides. The men lost by a margin of 169-128, with the women falling 196-102. Head coach Tom Groden deemed the meet successful, however, as the Eagles swam some great times while facing a scholarship program, something BC is not.
On the women's side, the Terriers started off the meet with wins in each of the first six events. Both their A and B relay teams in the 200-yard medley beat BC's best effort, and BU opened up with a 59-15 lead. The Eagles captured their first win in the 50 free by senior Shannon Landers. She swam a time of 25.14 seconds, besting BU's Alexsa Savage by .18.
The team came through again in the 200-yard breaststroke, taking three of the top four spots in a stroke that Groden noted was deep for the Eagles. Mikki Morr won the event with a time of 2:29.60, and Melissa Merwin was second, registering a time of 2:31.40. Kell DiStefano finished fourth for BC, and with her and Merwin both being freshmen, the Eagles should be set at the event for the next few years. In the 100-yard breastroke, Morr, Merwin, and DiStefano finished 2-4, respectively.
On the men's side, it proved to be somewhat closer. In the second event, BC's Jimmy Boretti captured a win in the 1000 free, finishing just under 10 minutes at 9:55.07. BU started pulling away after the 200-yard freestyle, as they placed three of the top four in that event, with BC's Nick Henze finishing third. In the 100-yard iteration of the same stroke later on, BU again placed three-of-four. Henze finished third, his time of 48.69 being just over a second slower than BU's Daniel Kempf.
BC dominated the 100 butterfly, taking the first two spots and three of the top four. Timothy Corrigian came in first with a time of 51.72, ahead of Nick Sung, who swam a 52.78. A big reason for Sung's success is his ability to stay underwater and kick after turns longer than his opponents. Groden said that Sung had been improving his time staying underwater due to a drill at practice, and recently began implementing the strategy in meets. It's worked out extremely well for Sung, who set personal bests over this meet and the team's Saturday contest against Providence.
The men also demonstrated depth at the breastroke position, with four of the six top finishers in both the 100 and 200-yard events. With none of the swimmers above the age of 20, BC should continue to do well in those events in the coming years.
As the Eagles who have qualified look to the ACC Championships held at Virginia Tech, they'll start tapering off in practice in order to achieve their best possible times for the meet. As BC is the only non-scholarship program in the ACC, it's a testament to the hard work and coaching tactics that BC qualifies swimmers for the event. Unfortunately, BC couldn't come up with a win against BU, but if they continue the way they're swimming, they should find success at the ACCs.
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