WESTON, Mass. – The Regis College men's and women's swimming & diving teams each fell to Colby-Sawyer College in a meet at the Regis Pool on Saturday afternoon. The men fell to the Chargers, 132-116, while the women were defeated 169-98.
Swimmers from both the men's and women's teams had strong performances despite the end results, including a record breaking 200 Yard Backstroke by senior Nick Yerzyk (West Hills, Calif.).
Yerzyk's time of 2:07.40 was good for a first place finish in the event as well as the Regis College record. The senior also took first place in the 50 Yard Backstroke (26.11) and the 50 Yard Butterfly (24.98), which the Pride swept after taking the first, second, and third place finishes. Andy LaForest (Roslindale, Mass.) and Stephen McGovern (Dorchester, Mass.) took second (26.32) and third (27.06), respectively.
McGovern, LaForest, as well as sophomores Alex Graf (Newton, Mass.) and Greg Sarantakis (Lowell, Mass.) each had individual first place finishes on the day. McGovern took first in the 50 Yard Breaststroke after he swam the event in a time of 30.76 seconds, while LaForest took the 100 Yard Butterfly event in a time of 59.62 seconds. Graf took first in both the 50 Yard Freestyle (23.27) and the 100 Yard Freestyle (50.29), and Sarantakis' time of 2:45.11 was the fastest in the 200 Yard Breaststroke.
Yerzyk, McGovern, LaForest, and Graf also teamed up for the 200 Yard Medley Relay, and their time of 1:45.16 finished ahead of the competition.
The women's side was highlighted by the 100 Yard Individual Medley, which the Pride swept after Haley Bowen (Litchfield, N.H.) (1:09.62), Shannan O'Neil (Lowell, Mass.) (1:10.61), and Lucia Llorente Ruiz (Newton, Mass.) (1:14.67) took first, second, and third, respectively. The 200 yard medley relay team of Brenna Melanson (Reading, Mass.), Bowen, O'Neil, and Megan Pratt (Rockland, Mass.) took home the top spot with a time of 2:01.78.
Melanson also added wins in the 50 yard backstroke (30.71) and 500 yard freestyle (5:39.09), while Bowen picked up a win in the 200 yard breastroke with a time of 2:38.06.
When asked about the meet, head coach James Sweeney said, "We did a tremendous job today. Coming in I knew we would have a hard time beating Colby Sawyer with their depth and they also had divers, but we swam really well. On the women's side coming back after a short rest from last night's meet and swimming must better and faster. We had a few more qualify for championships too along with some very good races.
"On the men's side we saw many good races highlighted by a school record in the 200 back by senior Nick Yerzyk, that was an amazing swim. To break a school record in season really bodes well for his better events in the sprints. Overall I am very pleased with how we are progressing as we fine tune and make more championship time standards."
The Pride returns to the pool next Saturday when Regis hosts Elms in a 1:00 p.m. meet.