Fordham Swimming and Diving is off to a great start this season, with both the men’s and women’s programs sitting at 3-0 after their first three meets. So far, the men and women have taken down Manhattan College, Monmouth University and Marist College. 

The team opened their season at home against Manhattan. Strong performances on both the men’s and women’s side allowed Fordham to sweep their opponent, with the women winning 182-65 and the men finishing 177-64. The dominant performance saw Fordham win all 32 events, which was the perfect way to set the tone for the season.

Four different athletes for the women’s team won multiple events over the course of the night. Great performances by sophomores Emma Shaughnessy and Jessica Zebrowski helped Fordham win the 50 and 100 meter events for breaststroke and butterfly. Fellow sophomore Ainhoa Martin took home first in the 100 freestyle and 100 IM. Finally, graduate student Millie Haffety swept both diving events for the team.

Shaughnessy and Zebrowski also found success in the 200-medley relay. The pair were joined by sophomore Leire Martin and senior Alison Lin to win the relay with a time of 1:45.37. Zebrowski also won the 200 freestyle relay with sophomore Alex Antonov, freshman Jaehee Park and senior Clare Culver. 

The men’s team similarly had four athletes win multiple events. Sophomore Kevin Zahariev started off the action by winning the 50- and 100-breaststroke. Graduate student Paris Raptis finished first in both the 50-freestyle and 50 butterfly, while junior Noah Althoff continued the team’s success in both the 200-freestyle and 10- IM. Both the diving events were swept by freshman Marco Petit.

Just like the women’s team, the men did not slow down heading into the relays. Raptis was a part of both relay wins, and Althoff accompanied him in the 200-medley. Junior Alex Wilhelm and sophomore Vitalis Onu rounded out that race with a winning time of 1:34.07. For the 200 freestyle, Raptis was joined by sophomore Brian Desmond, senior Wade Meaders and freshman Ryan Staunch. The winning time for that event was 1:28.89.

Fordham continued their season at home against Monmouth last Friday. The women’s team continued to dominate, taking home the win with a final score of 183-90. The men’s team also continued their winning streak, but did so with a comeback victory of 146-134.

Haffety had a historic day, setting two new school records in the process. Her score of 317.25 in the one-meter dive broke a record from 2017 held by Wendy-Espina-Equival. With a score of 311.7 on the three-meter dive, she broke a more recent record from 2020 held by Molly Dunn. 

Haffety was not the only one who put on an impressive performance, as three of her teammates were also able to finish first in multiple events. Sophomore Emilie Krog finished first in both of the distance freestyle events while Zebrowski again won both events in the butterfly category. Sophomore Ainhoa Martin was also a multi-event winner, taking the top spot in the 200-breaststroke and 400 individual medley. The team carried their success into the relays, winning both the 200 medley and 400-freestyle.

The men’s team fell behind early but began to rally behind performances from sophomore Daniel Langlois. His wins in the 200-breaststroke and 400-individual medley got the ball rolling for the Rams. Raptis continued the comeback with first place finishes in both the 100- and 200-butterfly events.  Freshman Marco Petit was the third multi-event winner for the men, sweeping both diving events. 

The meet was determined by the final race, the 400-freestyle relay. In an exciting finish, the relay team consisting of Raptis, sophomore Alex Shah, Wilhelm and graduate student Taras Zherebetskyy pulled ahead and clinched the victory for the Rams. The come-from-behind win highlighted the resilience this team clearly has.

Fordham then headed upstate to Marist on Saturday for their first away meet of the season. The women’s team easily defeated Marist with a final score of 192-89. The match was much closer for the men’s team, which again came down to the final race of the night. Ultimately, the men won with a final score of 140-136.

Strong performances on the women’s side allowed four athletes to win multiple events. Zebrowski secured wins in both the 100 and 200 butterfly, as well as the 50 freestyle. Lin took the top spot for both the 100 backstroke and 200 individual medley. Haffety continued her dominance of the diving events, sweeping the one-meter and three-meter events. Krog completes the list of multi-event winners, sweeping both long distance freestyle events. Zebrowski and Lin would also go on to win the 400 freestyle relay alongside sophomore Zoei Howard and graduate student Megan Morris with a time of 3:34.56.

On the men’s side, Raptis had a good day in Poughkeepsie, taking home the win in three different individual events. He finished first in the 100 breaststroke, 200 individual medley and 200 butterfly. Freshman Christian Taylor, who was competing for the first time this season, amazingly was also a multi-event winner by sweeping the backstroke events. 

For the second night in a row, the meet came down to the wire. Raptis was joined by Shah, Wilhelm and Zherebetskyy in the 400-freestyle relay to determine whether the Rams would walk away with a victory. They secured a win for the team by clocking in a time of 3:06.41. 

After three meets in a one week span, the Rams will get some rest before they compete again. On Saturday, Nov. 5, they will face Georgetown University at home. After that, the team will look to keep their momentum going at the Bucknell Invitational. As we have seen so far, the team consists of many contributors who are looking to compete every day. Even when faced with adversity, they do not quit. Starting out with a 3-0 record is a great way to cultivate a winning environment for the Rams to thrive in.