Head Coach Brad Burnham hoped his swimmers would leave everything in the pool when they competed at the NESCAC Championships.
They certainly did, and then some.
The men's swimming and diving team traveled to Williams last weekend to compete at the NESCAC championship, where 11 school records and two pool records fell at the hands of the Polar Bear squad.
The Bowdoin men earned 576.75 points over the course of the three-day meet, finishing in ninth out of 11 teams. Williams won its ninth NESCAC title with a final score of 1,937.5 points.
Strong squads from Tufts and Amherst rounded out the top three.
Sophomores Nathan Mecray and Mac Routh led the Polar Bears, earning All-NESCAC honors for their performances at the meet.
In the 50-yard breastroke, Mecray battled it out in a close race with Ian Nichols of Hamilton (son of Director of Safety and Security Randy Nichols) to take first place and the NESCAC title.
Mecray's time of 26.46 eclipsed the previous Bowdoin record set in 2002 by Nate Driskill '02.
Additionally, Mecray set a Williams pool record in the event.
"I knew I had a good chance to win the 50 breast if I had a good race. My finals time was a bit slower than my prelims time, but it was still fast enough for me to pull out a win," said Mecray.
Routh complemented this victory with a first-place finish of his own in the 50-yard butterfly.
His time of 22.67 seconds broke the previous Bowdoin record, as well as the Williams pool record.
Routh, who took third place in the event at the 2009 championships, focused on sprint workouts during the team's three-week taper period prior to the meet to prepare physically and mentally for the race.
"I focused on using my underwater dolphin kick to get out to a good start as well as a good breakout from my turn," he said.
Routh continued his successes over the course of the meet, finishing fifth in the 100-yard butterfly.
First year Basyl Stuyvesant also turned in fast results, finishing ninth in the 200-yard backstroke and winning the consolation final heat.
His race, according to Burnham, was "the best race of the weekend."
"Basyl cut two seconds off his best time as well as the [existing] school record," said Burnham.
Stuyvesant broke an additional Bowdoin record with his eleventh-place swim in the 100-yard backstroke.
His time of 53.11 seconds shattered the previous mark set by Lukas Filler '97 in 1997.
The men continued on their record-breaking streak in the relay events. Mecray, Routh, Stuyvesant and EJ Googins '13 finished seventh in the 200-yard freestyle relay, breaking a school record set in 2009.
The same quad also finished in sixth place in the 400-yard medley relay.
"In general, the team had some great swims, and it was nice to see swimmers really step up and contribute a lot of points individually and in relays," said Routh.
Burnham was pleased with the results despite an overall ninth-place finish.
"We knew we had a lot of points up front and it would be tough to hold onto our position, but the guys did what they could to scratch and claw for every point they could get," he said.
"It was a good meet overall. The team should be very proud of their efforts this year," he said.
For some, however, the season is not yet over.
Both Routh and Mecray are under consideration to swim at the upcoming NCAA D-III Championships in Minneapolis.
Routh's time of 50.51 in the 100-yard butterfly was fast enough to earn an NCAA "B"-cut, a standard achieved by few swimmers at the meet.
Mecray is also awaiting nationals consideration for his time of 57.98 seconds in the 100-yard breastroke.