Despite losing to the North Carolina Tar Heels in last week's meet at Chapel Hill, both the Johns Hopkins Men's and Women's swimming teams are off to strong starts this year and are growing more competitive as the season progresses. The UNC men's team, which is ranked No. 22 in the nation in Division I, defeated the Hopkins men 153-101.
The loss dropped Hopkins to 6-2, but both of its two losses have been at the hands of Division I competition. The women's team fell to 5-4 after losing a 142-110 decision to the Lady Tar Heels, who are ranked No. 15.
Individuals excelled in their events on both the men's and women's teams, but North Carolina overwhelmed the Blue Jays with first-place finishes to seal the victories. On the men's side, sophomore Matt Chana picked up one of four first-place finishes for Hopkins, winning the 1,000-meter freestyle. Fellow sophomore Brian Sneed took first in the 500-meter freestyle with Chana coming in second. Senior Scott Pitz breezed past opponents to win the 200-meter breaststroke and sophomore Tyler Harris earned the final first-place finish for Hopkins by taking the 100-meter breaststroke. Still, with the Tar Heels taking first in 12 out of the 16 races, Hopkins was doomed to come up short in the overall scoring.
"North Carolina is one of the top Division I teams in the country, so it gave us a chance to really race," said Chana. "It was definitely one of our best meets of the year in terms of how we swam."
One of the team's three captains, senior Oliver Buccicone, agreed. "The meet against North Carolina was definitely our team's best performance of the year," he said.
Three Hopkins women finished first in their events: freshman Allie Foster, sophomore Carly Benner and sophomore Abiona Redwood. Foster won the 200-meter breaststroke, Benner took the 500-meter freestyle and Redwood was victorious in the 200-meter Individual Medley. However, the Tar Heels took first in the other 13 events, guiding the team to its fifth victory of the season.
"Everyone really stepped up to the challenge presented by our coaches and took all of their races out hard and fast," said junior Diana Smirnova, one of the three women's team captains. "We had phenomenal performances across the board, including season and lifetime best times."
The meet in North Carolina came immediately after a tri-meet for both the men and women in which the College of New Jersey hosted Hopkins and West Chester. The men's team came up with victories over both of these reputable teams, edging West Chester 175.5-174.5 and walloping TCNJ 212-120. Last year, West Chester came in fourth in the Division II National Championships and TCNJ claimed eighth place in Division III. Individual winners for Hopkins in the meet included junior J.P. Balfour (400-meter individual medley and 200-meter backstroke), senior Scott Pitz (100-meter breaststroke and 200-meter breaststroke), and sophomore Matt Chana (500-meter freestyle and 1650-meter freestyle). The Blue Jays were also victors in two relays: the 200-meter medley and the 400-meter medley. Balfour, Harris, Pitz and senior Kyle Robinson were the four members of the 200-meter medley team. The 400-meter medley team consisted of Balfour, Robinson, Pitz and Sneed.
"I think we swam very well as a team," said Buccicone. "Our relays were impressive, and beating West Chester by one point was huge."
The women also performed strongly at the College of New Jersey, splitting the match with a 238.5 to 124.5 victory over TCNJ and a 182-168 loss to West Chester. At last year's National Championships, TCNJ wound up 13th in Division III, while West Chester took third in Division II.
Sophomore Sida Liu's had three individual victories in 100-meter backstroke, 200-meter backstroke, and 200-meter butterfly. Liu also swam the second leg for the victorious 400-meter medley relay team. Smirnova and Foster won two races apiece as well.
Hopkins' women's team took first place in eight of the 20 events to split this meet. Liu was impressed with the team's performance at the meet, and knew that Hopkins would have swept the match if it had a diving team since West Chester won from diving points alone.
"It went really well, considering we were all broken down from training," said Liu, who was just returning from a 10-day intensive training program in Palm Beach, Fla. with her teammates.
The women's team had one other meet over intersession: a home match against Navy on Jan. 10. The Midshipmen finished first in 13 of the 16 events, carrying them to a 155-134 victory and improving their season mark to 7-4. The Blue Jays put up a good fight, thanks to an incredible performance by the freshmen. Freshman Ariana Reks took first place in the 200-meter freestyle, while her classmate Allie Foster won the 200-meter breaststroke. The other first place finish was in the 400-meter free relay, which was comprised strictly of freshman.
"I think our freshman class has had some great performances," said Smirnova. "They do a great job of getting up for relays and have been a great addition to our team."
The women's team's recent success has carried over from its early-season success at the Miami of Ohio Invitational. In this two-day competition, both the men's and women's teams faced some of the toughest competitors in Divisions I, II and III, and fared well.
The men's team finished in third place among the eight teams present, thanks to strong performances in both individual and team events. The 800-meter freestyle relay team of Sneed, Robinson, Buccicone and freshman Rich Guerard came in first place. The 200-meter medley relay team of freshman Kevin Walsh, Harris, Sneed and Robinson took fourth, while the team made up of Balfour, senior Loren Robinson, sophomore Sean Kim and junior Paul Zalewski came in seventh in the same event. The top individuals were Pitz (second in the 100-meter breaststroke), Robinson (third in 200-meter freestyle), Chana (third in 1650-meter freestyle) and Walsh (sixth in 100-meter backstroke).
"I think we sent out a message that a lot of people on our team are stepping up this year," said Chana. "Just because many of our top seniors graduated last year, it doesn't mean that we're falling apart. In fact, we are doing great."
The women's team finished sixth out of the 11 schools at the Miami of Ohio Invitational. Liu earned fifth-place finishes in both the 100-meter butterfly and the 100-meter backstroke.
"Our team did great," said Smirnova. "The women swam very fast on only three days rest."
Looking ahead, both Hopkins swim teams will host Franklin & Marshall Friday night at 6:00 p.m. Franklin & Marshall is currently atop the Centennial Conference on the women's board and is tied for third place in the men's bracket. Smirnova acknowledged that the F&M Women's team has some exceptional swimmers, but promised: "We will have a solid line-up and I think we'll do well."
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