It was a David and Goliath story last weekend as the Bowdoin Polar Bears took on the University of Maine-Orono Black Bears on Saturday. Despite having a student body seven times smaller than that of Orono, the Polar Bears held their own in the exhibition meet against the Division I opponent and garnered victories.
On the women's side, sophomores Allison Palmer (50-yard freestyle), Caitlin Callahan (200-yard breastroke), Erin McAuliffe (200-yard backstroke), Megan Sullivan (200-yard freestyle), and Jessie Small (500-yard freestyle) all won their individual events, as did first year Allen Garner, who finished first in the 100-yard freestyle.
These results led a stream of dominant swims from the Bowdoin women, resulting in a tight 105-100 victory over the Black Bears.
Sullivan's swims were especially impressive. Just minutes after her second-place finish in the 100-yard freestyle, she claimed first place in the 200-yard freestyle and a personal best in the event by .67 seconds.
Success on the men's side was generated primarily from the dominant swimming of first year Nathan Mecray, with wins in the 100-yard individual medley and the 100-yard freestyle, and senior Max Goldstein, who won the 200-yard breastroke and 200-yard butterfly.
However, it was senior captain David Swanson's swim in the 50-yard freestyle that exemplified the Polar Bear's dominance on the men's side.
Winning the sprint race by over a second, Swanson soundly handled the Orono opponents and created a wave of success that carried the men to a 118-86 point victory.
"The UMaine meet was exactly what we were looking for," said Coach Brad Burnham. "The team hasn't raced much and with a couple of very tight meets coming up, it was nice to compete against an out-of-division opponent just to see how some individual races would go."
The swim teams will host Wesleyan and Trinity this weekend in a tri-meet against the Connecticut teams.