By Dominic Capone

After starting the season 0-2, the Fordham men’s swimming and diving team has won 3 of its last 4 meets, en route to a .500 record. Coming off a loss last week to La Salle, the men rebounded, escaping with a 150-144 victory over the Iona Gaels. The women also came home with a win, beating Iona 199-85 as they improve to 6-0 on the season.

“Our team is working hard and is motivated to do our best especially after coming back from [our] training trip in Miami,” Bryce Bollesen said when asked about the team’s improvement late in the season. “I feel that we are in a good place after our last two wins.”

Bollesen, a sophomore for the Rams, won the 50 and 100 freestyle with times of 21.34 and 47.78, respectively. He, along with Travis Monahan, Auston Ramsay and A.J Frakes finished first in the 200 freestyle relay with a time of 1:25.74.

“It is always a great feeling to contribute to the team’s success,” Bollesen added.

Travis Monhan also won an individual event, taking first in the 100 breaststroke in 59.24 seconds. Danny McGowan won the 200 freestyle in 1:45.33 while Greg Lombana also picked up a win, swimming the 200 butterfly in 1:57.84.

On the women’s side, the Rams continue to dominate their opponents as Caitlin McNary and Natalie Ortof each helped lead the team to victory.

McNary won the 100 freestyle in 53.14 seconds and the 200 freestyle in 1:53.54. Ortof won the diving events in the 1M (225.00) and the 3M (229.80).
Michelle Martin added to the victory as well, taking first in the 100 butterfly in 57.64 seconds. She then picked up two more wins in the relay races. Martin, along with Milly Furneaux, Tara Brunner and Theresa Mullen, won the 200 medley relay in 1:48.11. Brunner and Martin then joined Kiara Norris and Noelle Theodoulou as they won the 200 freestyle relay in 1:37.13.

Milly Furneaux won the 100 breaststroke in 1:05.33, while Kiara Norris placed first in the 50 freestyle with a time of 24.73.

The Rams have two more meets before the A-10 Championship is set to get underway on Feb. 20 at Spire Institute in Geneva, Ohio. With both the men’s and women’s teams competing well as of now, they both look to finish the season strong going into A-10’s.

The Rams’ next test will be on Saturday, Feb. 2, when the University of Massachusetts travels down to Fordham; it will get started at 1:00 PM.