Ten school records fell on the way to the men's swimming and diving team's fifth-place finish at the NESCAC championships last weekend at Williams, marking the team's best ever performance in the 12-year history of the meet.
Captain Mac Routh '12 posted the best Polar Bear finish by winning the 50 butterfly, while taking second in the 50 backstroke and fourth in the 100 fly. He set new Bowdoin records in all three events.
Captain Nathan Mecray '12 set a new school record in the 100 breaststroke. He placed second in both his record-breaking breaststroke and the 50 freestyle, and took fourth in the 50 breaststroke.
Basyl Stuyvesant '13 also shattered two school records as he swam to fourth in both the 100 and 200 backstrokes.
Sophomores Chris Granata and Ryan Peabody both swam to top-10 finishes, with the former taking fifth in the 200 fly and the latter taking seventh in the 400 individual medley.
The Polar Bears also performed well in the relay events. In the 200 free relay, Mecray, E.J. Googins '13, Will Shi '15, and Routh raced to a third-place finish, earning All-NESCAC recognitino for their efforts. Meanwhile, both the 400 medley (Stuyvesant, Mecray, Routh, and Linc Rhodes '14) and the 200 medley (Stuyvesant, Mecray, Routh, Shi) placed fourth.
"I saw guys fighting hard at the end of races," noted Head Coach Brad Burnham.
In the diving portion of the competition, Tom Kramer '15 led the Polar Bears with a sixth-place finish in the one- and three-meter dives. Bowdoin's divers—Kramer, along with Daniel Jeong '12 and Alex Edison '13—scored the most combined points in the conference.
Routh's record-toppling showing was a team effort in the relay events, but also stemmed from an "incomplete" season last year. Routh said, "I was abroad last year and only had a half a season, so I was not able to live up to my standard of past years." This gave him the motivation to help move his team up in the NESCAC this year.
The record-breaking Polar Bear performances were not enough to unseat conference powerhouses Amherst and Williams. Burnham expected the rivals to vie for the top spot.
"We thought 5th was a realistic place for us, but once we were in third after the first night, I think we all started thinking a higher place would be even better," he said.
Though the top spots in the NESCAC remained static and there has historically been a wide gap between the top and bottom teams in the conference, both Burnham and Routh believe Bowdoin is gaining ground on the first tier, each year progressively chipping away at the wide divide.
"The team was the deepest it has ever been, especially with the first year and sophomore classes," Routh said. "The sophomore class helped us to sixth last year, which was the best ever championships finish for the Polar Bears," and the first years added to that.
Perennial forces like Williams and Amherst's consistent wins "add to their prestige," which in turn attracts faster recruits, said Routh. This cycle of fast times and even faster incoming classes keeps the Ephs and Lord Jeffs atop the standings.
Routh said "it is a testament to the team's improvement," that Bowdoin can now attract faster and faster swimmers entering the recruiting process.
Though Bowdoin will graduate a strong senior class, Burnham is not worried.
"I know the returning team," he said, "and incoming kids will want to build on what we have started."