Georgetown’s swimming and diving teams pulled away with victories over Davidson’s teams this past Saturday at McCarthy Pool.

The men’s team (2-3) scored 156 to Davidson’s (1-4) 144 points, while the women’s team (3-2) defeated Davidson (1-5) with a final score of 170.5-129.5 points.

“All of our races impressed me. Based on our last month of training, we have been working really hard and swam some great races while really broken down. We swam a lot of season bests on Saturday,” Georgetown Head Coach Jack Leavitt said of his team’s performance.

The women’s 200-yard medley team of senior captain Katie Duncalf, junior Molly Fitzpatrick and freshmen Morgan Conley and Kelleigh Haley captured first place with a time of 1:47.61. The members of the relay team channeled this early victory to their individual events.

Duncalf finished first in both the 100 and 200-yard backstroke, finishing with times of 57.77 seconds and 2:06.5, respectively. Duncalf noted how Leavitt has worked closely with her to develop and perfect her backstroke.

“[Leavitt is] very intricate in regards to helping each and every one of us with our stroke, so I’ve gotten much more attention with my backstroke than I ever have being at Georgetown, so it’s been really nice to learn what I’ve been doing wrong and corrected in my last year of swimming,” Duncalf said.

Fitzpatrick broke a pool record in the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:19.13 and added second place finishes in the 100-yard breaststroke and the 200-yard individual medley. Conley also saw individual success as she finished first in the 50- and 100- yard freestyle, winning by margins of .22 and .28 seconds, respectively.

Just like the women, the Georgetown men opened up competition with a first place finish in 200-yard medley relay. Freshman Henry Hollinshead, sophomore Arthur Wang, senior Martin Vanin and senior Will Leach held off a late Davidson surge to win the race with a time of 1:34.61.

Despite injuries and illnesses of a few key contributors, the team worked hard to achieve the results of this week’s meet.

“The team said at the beginning of the year they wanted to be known for their grit,” Leavitt said, “This was definitely a gritty win.”

The upperclassmen have adapted well to both Leavitt and his coaching style in his first year at Georgetown. As the team enters into a busy stretch in the season, Duncalf and Chung had nothing but positive comments to say about the change in the team’s leadership.

“I think the way he perceives our team is different from how our old coach did. His mentality is more so: ‘I don’t care what the other teams do, I only care about how you guys perform and how we do internally, and as long as you’re trying your best and as long as you’re putting forth 100 percent effort, I will be happy with your results and so should you,’” Duncalf said.

Chung also resonated this praise for the new head coach, providing the team with a new outlook on competition.

“I think Jack brings a new perspective. A new perspective isn’t a bad thing. I think his philosophy and the way he looks at yards and the way he looks at certain elements of each stroke is something that we really appreciate,” Chung said.

Along with changes in the coaching staff, a new season brings a new class of student-athletes, and Chung and Duncalf say the future is bright for the team.

“These freshmen are intent on getting those records and getting those times and placing at Big East, so it’s nice to have a pool of swimmers who are super eager to perform well and have acclimated well to the team culture. They provide such a positive energy that matches rest of us” Duncalf said. 

With two victories from both teams and an optimistic outlook, the Hoyas have a quick turnaround to showcase once again their talent and hard work in a meet that includes two Big East foes.

“[We] can’t wait for some Big East competition. It’ll be a great measuring stick to see where we are. It’s a fun format that will allow us to swim some different events,” Leavitt said.

The Hoyas will travel to New Brunswick, N.J., for back-to-back meets Friday afternoon and Saturday morning to face Rutgers, Seton Hall and Villanova.