The Rams are getting back into the swing of competition and finally feeling the pressure of meets again. This past weekend, Fordham Swimming & Diving competed in back-to-back meets. Their first was against the Marist College Red Foxes, as they headed to the Messmore Aquatic Center in the Bronx. The women claimed the win in this meet as the men fell just a few points short of victory.

Fordham won 10 out of 11 individual events and both relay nights on the women’s side. Junior Clare Culver took the top spot in both the 200 and 500 freestyle events. Her times of 1:54.55 and 5:11.61, respectively, are only a few seconds shy of her personal bests. Culver is looking strong as competition picks up and she prepares for the tough season ahead. 

Freshman Ainhoa Martin claimed the 200 individual medley (IM) and 200 breaststroke. Martin swam the 200 IM in a time of 2:05.41, and the 200 breaststroke in 2:19.88. Senior diver Natalie Ortof swept the diving events with scores of 169.10 in the 1M and 168.60 in the 3M. 

Other strong individual winners include sophomore Ellen Brooks in the 1000 freestyle event with a time of 10:37.11 and Senior Kiara Norris who won the 50 freestyle in 24.70. Freshman Jessica Zebrowski won the 200 butterfly in 2:08.25. Freshman Leire Martin won the 200 backstroke, finishing at 2:04.71. 

In the relay events, Norris, Culver, Zebrowski and senior Victoria Navarro secured the win in the 400 freestyle event. In the 400 medley relay, it was L. Martin, graduate student Becky Kamau, Navarro and freshman Madeline Bergen who held on for the win. 

The Rams won five of the 11 individual events on the men’s side. Sophomore Alex Wilhelm won the 200 IM in 1:55.33 and the 200 backstroke with a time of 1:54.50. Freshman Daniel Langlois won the 200 breaststroke coming in at 2:11.18. Senior Diego Perez won both the 1M and the 3M diving events with scores of 154.15 and 182.40, respectively. 

The Rams were back in their home pool less than 24 hours later for their next meet against the Monmouth University Hawks. Both the men and women earned wins, despite coming off facing some tough competition.

Once again, Culver, A. Martin and Ortof secured multiple wins against their opponents. This time, Culver competed in the 1,000 freestyle and the 500 freestyle, winning both events in 10:39.08 and 5:12.21, respectively. Ortof secured a spot in NCAA Zone Diving Regional with her winning scores of 268.65 in the 1M and 272.20 in the 3M. A. Martin won the 200 breaststroke and the 400 IM with times of 2:21.41 and 4:24.57.

For individual wins, Navarro grabbed the 100 butterfly in a time of 57.27. Kamau won her event, the 100 breaststroke, in 1:06.14. Zebrowski won the 200 butterfly with a time of 2:08.39. Junior Audrey Tirrell won the 200 freestyle at 1:57.21 and Junior Alison Lin won the 100 backstroke at 58.44. 

Fordham won both women’s relays again, establishing their dominance over the Hawks.

Both of the men’s relays won as well as they competed hard against a strong Monmouth team. They also beat out the Hawks in nine different individual events. Langlois secured the win in two different events: the 200 breaststroke at 2:12.43 and the 400 IM with a time of 4:13.56. In addition, freshman Nathan Nguyen won the 100 breaststroke at 1:00.43 and junior Ethan Murray won the 200 butterfly in a time of 1:54.88. 

Freshman Alexander Shah won the 50 freestyle at 22.00 and senior Spencer Clarke won the 100 freestyle in a time of 47.41. Freshman Vitalis Onu won the 100 butterfly with a 51.02 finish. Perez swept the competition again in both the 1M and 3M diving events. His scores were 236.25 and 198.60 in each of the board events.

After these two meets, the Rams get a weekend off to recover and then are back in action when they meet Georgetown University on Saturday, Nov. 6 in the Messmore Aquatic Center.