When the swimming and diving teams returned from Wesleyan late last Saturday evening, everything was accounted for: 12 first place finishes, a handful of top-10 NESCAC times, and one school record.
The teams competed against Wesleyan and Trinity, posting split results. The men's team fell to a strong Wesleyan squad 180-117, but beat Trinity 169.5-126.5. Similarly, the women's team was defeated by the Cardinals 131-168, but triumphed over the Bantams 200-89.
Both men's and women's teams now stand at a 3-2 season record.
Basyl Stuyvesant '13 led the men's team, winning the 100-and 200-yard backstroke events. Stuyvesant's time of 1:56.81 in the 200-yard backstroke broke a 10-year-old Bowdoin record, eclipsing the 1:57.45 mark set in 2000 by Matt Hammond '02.
Stuyvesant attributed his race to good body positioning and technique.
"In the 200 back I really focused on staying light in the water and trying not to muscle through the event," he said. "It went really well because I had much more to give at the end of the race than my opponents, rather than tiring myself out like I have in the past."
Several other Polar Bears posted multiple wins, including Nathan Mecray '12 and Mac Routh '12. Mecray won the 100-yard breastroke and 100-yard freestyle events, while Routh swept the 50-yard freestyle and the 100-yard butterfly.
The team of Stuyvesant, Routh, Mecray and EJ Googins '13 swam well in the 400-yard medley relay, touching the wall four seconds ahead of Wesleyan to finish in first.
The women's team was paced once again by standout Katherine Foley '13, who won the 1000-yard and 500-yard freestyle. In the 500-yard freestyle, Foley's time of 5:11.36 earned her a third place ranking amongst all NESCAC teams.
Earlier in the meet, Caitlin Callahan '11 won the 100-yard breastroke with a time of 1:10.07. Bowdoin also continued its dominance of the 200-yard backstroke, with Allen Garner '12 finishing first in the women's race. Garner's time of 2:12.33, a personal best, placed her in the top 10 NESCAC times for that event.
"The 200 backstroke was probably the highlight event for both teams," said Head Coach Brad Burnham.
In the diving events, Ginger Leone '11 placed second in the women's 1-meter springboard with a personal best score of 179.95. Her performance was complemented by that of Mae Speight '13, who placed second in the women's 3-meter.
On the men's side, sophomores Kevin Kowalko and Daniel Jeong placed fifth and sixth in the 1-meter and 3-meter boards.
"Kowalko and Jeong scored valuable points that helped the men's team defeat Trinity," said Diving Coach Harvey Wheeler. "They should both play important roles in the Colby meet next Saturday."
Bowdoin will face Colby this Saturday, but already got a taste of their competition at the Wesleyan-Trinity meet.
The Colby team was present at the meet, but did not compete against the Bowdoin teams. They posted a similar performance to that of the Polar Bears, with both men's and women's teams earning a win over Trinity but falling to Wesleyan.
"It is good to see Colby race other teams," said Brunham, "but we really don't put a lot of stock into their swims because we know they will make adjustments for our meet this weekend."
"[Their team is] swimming very well at this point and the meet this weekend is going to live up to the ones we have seen over the past few years," he added. "We are going to do our very best to challenge them in their home pool."
The Bowdoin-Colby meet will begin on Saturday at noon at Colby's Harold Alfond Athletic Center.