Swimming and Diving Season Ends on a High Note

The+season+came+to+a+successful+close+for+Fordham+Swim+and+Dive.+%28Courtesy+of+Ellen+Bergin%29

The season came to a successful close for Fordham Swim and Dive. (Courtesy of Ellen Bergin)

After a Wednesday night dual meet, the Fordham Swimming and Diving regular season has officially concluded. The team finished the season strong with wins against St. Francis Brooklyn College and Wagner College for both the men’s and women’s teams. The women’s team easily beat St. Francis Brooklyn with a final score of 206-77. It was not much closer on the men’s side, with the Rams winning 176-107. The final score against Wagner for the women’s team was 186-100, with a final score of 165-117 posted on the men’s side.

The women’s team finished undefeated, largely dominating their opponents throughout the season to finish 10-0. This is the fourth time in Fordham’s history that the women’s team has completed an undefeated dual meet season. The men’s team also had an extremely impressive season, only dropping one meet to finish at 8-1. Fordham will look to continue this momentum as they head on now to the Atlantic 10 tournament.

As always, the Rams came out strong Wednesday night in the 200 medley relays. The men’s team consisting of freshman Christian Taylor, graduate students Paris Raptis Taras Zherebetskyy and senior Nicholas Chao took home first with a time of 1:30.73. The women’s team also placed first with a time of 1:45.98, led by sophomores Leire Martin, Emma Shaughnessy, Ainhoa Martin and Jessica Zebrowski.

Impressively, Fordham swept six more events throughout the night, including the 100 breaststroke, 100 backstroke, 100 freestyle, 100 butterfly, 200 individual medley and 200 freestyle relay. Graduate student Lilia de Oliveria Pelaez and freshman Marco Petit also swept both diving events for the women’s and men’s teams, respectively. This strong overall performance to end the campaign is a perfect reflection of the entire season as a whole.

The night proved to be a strong individual performance for Zebrowski, who also helped the team win the 100 freestyle, 50 freestyle and the 200 freestyle relay. Ainhoa Martin also posted wins in multiple events. Martin helped tack on wins for the women’s team in the 200 backstroke and 200 freestyle relay. Zherebetskyy was the biggest contributor on the men’s side, taking home the 100 freestyle in addition to his relay wins.

Although this was undoubtedly an amazing season for Fordham swim and dive, it is not over yet. The team will not have much time to relax and celebrate their regular season accomplishments as they must travel to Ohio for the A-10 championship on Feb. 15. The tournament is multiple days, spanning through Saturday, Feb. 18. If their performance in the regular season is any indicator, the Rams can continue to expect good things as they prepare to compete next week.