Another week, another sweep for the Fordham swimming and diving team. In fact, Fordham posted two sweeps this last week against both Iona College and the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Against Iona, the women dominated with a final score of 183-106. It was slightly closer for the women’s team against UMass, but they still secured a 164-136 win. The domination against Iona carried over to the men’s side, with the meet ending 175-108. However, it was a razor-sharp matchup for the men against UMass as they narrowly won 148-145. This marks the first time in school history that the Rams have swept UMass in a meet.

Against Iona, Fordham started strong in the 200 medley relay and never looked back. The women’s relay team, which posted a first place time of 1:45.8, consisted of graduate student Megan Morris and sophomores Emma Shaughnessy, Ainhoa Martin and Jessica Zebrowski. Freshman Christian Taylor, sophomore Kevin Zahariev and graduate students Paris Raptis and Taras Zherebetskyy led the men’s team to victory with a time of 1:32.04.

Fordham continued to find success in the relay later in the meet, sweeping the 200 freestyle relay. Morris, Shaughnessy, A. Martin and Zebrowski combined again to win the relay with a time of 1:37.98. For the men, Taylor and Zherebetskyy were joined by sophomores Vitalis Onu and Alexander Shah for a winning time of 1:24.68.

Beyond the relays, the Rams also took home all the diving events. On the men’s side, freshman Marco Petit won the one-meter with a score of 201.08 and the three-meter with a score of 210.75. Graduate student Millie Haffety took both events for the women, with a score of 287.25 in the one-meter and 302.10 in the three-meter. 

The Minutemen proved to be a tougher opponent for the Rams. This meet started similarly to Iona, with Fordham sweeping the 200 medley relay events. Morris, Shaughnessy and Zebrowski competed again but were joined this time by sophomore Leire Martin for a fantastic time of 1:45.89. This set a new pool record at the UMass swimming complex. Over on the men’s side, Taylor, Raptis and Zherebetskyy combined with senior Nicholas Chao for a winning time of 1:32.28.

The pool record set by the women in the 200 medley relay was only one of eight total pool records set by Fordham on the day. Notably, three of these records came during butterfly events. Zebrowski set a record in the 200 butterfly with a time of 2:03.82 and a record in the 100 butterfly with a time of 55.85. Raptis also swept both events for the men’s team, and set a new pool record in the 100 with a time of 48.50.

The meet ended in dramatic fashion for the men’s team, with the outcome being determined by the day’s final event. In the 200 freestyle relay, the Rams snagged first while also setting a new pool record in the process. The meet would not have been secured without help from the Fordham “B” team consisting of Shah, Onu and sophomores Taj Kanjanakaset Michael Biryukov. Their efforts simultaneously secured third place and victory for Fordhams men’s team in the meet. Fordham previously had not beaten UMass in a meet since 2017.

Fordham will end the regular season on  Feb. 1, at home in a dual-meet against St. Francis Brooklyn and Wagner College. Currently, the women’s team is undefeated with a record of 8-0. The men have only dropped one meet, with an overall record of 6-1. Fordham will look to close out this spectacular season on Wednesday before going on to compete in the Atlantic 10 tournament.