POUGHKEEPSIE, NY – Fresh off its training trip to Florida, the Vassar College women's and men's swimming & diving teams hit the ground running in 2020, posting multiple victories in tri-meet action on Tuesday against Mount Holyoke College and Trinity College at Kresge Pool.
The Brewers women bested the Bantams by a 154-137 score, while recording a 201-94 win against the Lyons. On the men's side, VC powered its way to a 174-115 win against Trinity, while the Bantams' women also posted a 208-90 win against Mount Holyoke.
Vassar jumped right out to victory in the opening event as juniors
Rhea Randhawa (Dix Hills, NY) and
Stephanie Kaplan (Bellmore, NY), along with rookie
Lillian Lowenthal (Baltimore, MD) and junior
Brynn Lautenbacher (Dunwoody, GA) posted a time of 1:53.50 in the 200-yard medley relay. The men's event saw sophomore Jake Mier (Ponte Vedra Beach, FL), freshman Anthony Cheng (Cherry Hill, NJ), senior Harrison Taylor (Wyandanch, NY) and junior Max White (Green Bay, WI) take second with a time of 1:43.14.
Junior
Angharad Healey (Summit, NJ) was the victor in the 1000-yard freestyle, touching the wall with a time of 10:55.54, while the men's side saw rookie Robbie Perot (Lititz, PA) blaze his way to the win in a time of 10:01.31 – almost 22 seconds faster than second place.
Freshman
Grace Myers (Havertown, PA) gave the Brewers their next victory on the women's side, grabbing the win in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 2:00.10, while classmate
Abby Whittington (Sandy, UT) was just behind with a second-place time of 2:02.35. In the men's event, White earned the win, touching the wall in a time of 1:48.22 – nearly five seconds faster than second place.
The 100-yard backstroke was won by Randhawa, who clocked in with a winning time of 1:02.08, while senior
Laura Vidano (San Francisco, CA) was second with a mark of 1:06.50. The men's even was won in dramatic fashion by rookie Leroy Wang (Burnaby, BC) as he out touched Trinity's Chuck Sweeney (59.96) by mere milliseconds with a time of 59.92.
Shifting to the 100-yard breaststroke, Kaplan was the winner for the women as she posted a time of 1:12.23, out touching Trinity's Madison Guay as well who recorded a time of 1:12.77. On the men's side, Cheng has a dramatic finish of his own as he blazed to a mark of 1:01.39, nearly a full second faster than second place.
Lowenthal picked up her first individual win of the day in the 200-butterfly, posting a time of 2:12.20, while on the men's side, Mier blazed his way back to best Trinity's George Kapanadze, 1:59.13 to 2:02.27.
In the 50-free, Lautenbacher was edged her way to victory in a time of 25.55, just ahead of Trinity's Olivia Fournier – who clocked in with a time of 25.64. Sophomore
Violet Witchel (Durango, CO) and freshman
Sophie Forbes (San Angelo, TX) locked up the third and fourth place finishes with marks of 25.82 and 25.89, respectively. The men's event was won by senior Matthew Imiolek (St. Louis, MO) as he won with a time of 22.40.
The men's 3-meter event saw sophomore Sam Murphy (Los Angeles, CA) earn the win with 162.70 points, while classmate Laurence Barr-Forget (Westhampton Beach, NY) was second with 137.10 points. The women's one meter saw freshman
Evelyn Boyle (Baton Rouge, LA) take sixth (151.73), while junior
Emily Chong (Dix Hills, NY) was 10th (102.90).
More victories came in the swimming events, beginning in the 200-yard backstroke as Randhawa won with a time of 2:13.68 over Healey, who had a time of 2:17.05. The men's even was won by White, who grabbed the win in a time of 2:01.53.
Lowenthal earned her second win of the day in the 200-breaststoke with a time of 2:34.43, while Kaplan took second in the event with a time of 2:37.11. On the men's side, Cheng earned another victory as he battled to the top spot with a mark of 2:12.41.
In the 500-free, Healey was just out touched by Trinity's Re Umholtz, who posted a 5:22.56 to Healey's 5:22.79. The men's side saw Perot the victor once again as he used a nearly six second advantage to win the event in a time of 4:53.08.
Lautenbacher earned the win in the 100-yard butterfly, touching in a time of 1:00.80, while the men's side saw Mier and Taylor earn second (54.48) and third (54.98), respectively.
The men's 1-meter event saw Murphy once again take the win with a score of 159.90 points. Barr-Forget was second with 148.70 points, while freshman Ben Bragin (Santa Monica, CA) took third with a score of 117.15.
Back in the pool for the final individual events of the day, Lowenthal earned her third victory in the 200-yard individual medley, battling past Trinity's Zory Matlashewski for the win in a time of 2:15.39. The men's event was won by Cheng, who had another dramatic affair as he outpaced teammate Mier to touch the wall in a time of 2:03.87, as Mier was second with a time of 2:03.93.
The women's 400-free relay saw Whittington, Witchel, Myers and Lautenbacher combine to finish second with a time of 3:41.55, just fractions away from first, which was won by Trinity in a time of 3:41.50. The men's side also saw VC take second as Perot, Imiolek, sophomore Brandon Li (Whippany, NJ) and White combined for a time of 3:18.39.
Vassar is idle for the remainder of the week, but returns to action on January 24 when it hosts Pace University at Kresge Pool for a 6pm dual meet.
