This past Saturday, the swim team raised hopes for their prospects this upcoming season, defeating Franklin & Marshall 158-93.
Hopkins swimming dominated in a variety of events. The meet began with the 200 Medley Relay, an event in which Hopkins took the top two spots. Freshman David Woodford, junior Tim Nam, sophomore Carter Gisriel and freshman Anthony Lordi lent their efforts to secure first place in the event. A team composed of sophomores Dylan Coggin, Jason Ho and Tyler Woods and junior Eddy Zandee finished in second place.
Next came the 400 IM, in which Blue Jays captured the top three spots. Freshman and newcomer to collegiate swimming Joe Acquaviva won the event by a margin of seven seconds, finishing in 4:15.68. Freshman Michael Leddy came in second at 4:23.14, while junior Markus Kowalsky finished third at 4:27.60.
In the 200 Free, Hopkins saw three of its swimmers finish in the top three spots. Junior Stephen Niemiec secured first place, clocking in a time of 1:47.06. Freshman Theo Leclere took second place, finishing in 1:47.41. Will Kimball, finishing in third place, clocked in at 1:50.54.
Blue Jay success only continued as Coggin won the 50 Back, finishing in 25.72. The sophomore edged out his younger classmate, freshman Sean Glass, who finished in 25.77.
Hopkins then proceeded to win all three spots in the next six events. In the 50 Breast, Acquaviva finished in first place with a time of 27.28. Nam and Ho finished second (with a time of 27.53) and third (28.79) respectively.
In the 100 Fly, Gisriel snagged the top spot, finishing 52.04 and edging out teammate Woods by slightly over two seconds (54.14). Freshman Christian Dias came in third in the event, finishing with a time of 56.66.
Next came the 50 Free, which Zandee won handily, finishing in 21.30. Freshman Brandon Moy and Ho came in second (22.5) and third (22.67), respectively.
Acquaviva was not the only freshman with his first collegiate win: Freshman Ben Tiller took first in the 100 Free with a time of 48.90. Gisriel came in second with a time of 49.40, while Niemiec came in third (49.40).
Completing the hat-trick of freshman firsts, Woodford won the 100 Back, clocking in at 54.52. Lordi finished second at 54.72, while sophomore Durgesh Das placed third (56.05).
Before the final four events, which consisted of swimming exhibitions, Hopkins swept the top three spots in the 100 Breast. Nam secured first place, finishing in 59.88. Freshman Alex Polyak came next in second place with a time of 59.95. Finally, Chris Razavi took third at 1:00.70.
It remains to be seen if Hopkins men’s swimming can repeat the success they achieved last season. Last March, recently graduated senior John Thomas won his third straight NCAA title in the 200 Back, securing the title with an NCAA record-breaking time of 1:48.18. Blue Jays also achieved success in the 400 Free Relay, finishing in 13th place with a finals time of 3:06.23. This event earned seniors Teddy Bulakul and Neil Mahoney, Niemiec and Thomas Honorable Mention All-America honors.
If this past Saturday’s season-opening meet is any indication, though, the following season looks to bring a great deal of success to Blue Jay swimmers.
