The moment the Georgetown swim team had been preparing for all season finally arrived when it traveled to Pittsburgh for the Big East championship meet last week. The Blue and Gray faced stiff competition against top conference schools including Louisville, Notre Dame, Villanova and West Virginia, but their hard work paid off in several record-breaking individual performances as well as a sixth-place finish for the men and a ninth-place finish for the women.
The Hoyas opened competition on Wednesday in the men’s and women’s relay events. The 800-yard freestyle relay team of sophomore Mathew Mandel, senior Chris Finnegan, freshman Will Lawler and junior Paul Quincy posted a sixth-place finish with a time of 6:41.99. The men’s 200 medley relay team, consisting of freshman Michael Ng, senior Brad Crist, Lawler and Mandel, finished in 1:32.19.
On the women’s side, the 800 freestyle relay team of freshman Laura Tramer, freshman Kim DiNapoli, junior Sarah Chiles and sophomore Lauren Opatrny finished with a time of 7:44.28 to take 11th place. The 200 medley relay team of Opatrny, freshman Casey Bandman and sophomores Allison Fulenwider and Alexandra Van Nipsen placed ninth in 1:46.71.
Day Two of competition also saw some successes for the Hoyas, as several swimmers set new school records and racked up points for the team. Quincy swam a scorching 4:29.83 in the finals of the 500 freestyle to set a new school record and earn two points for the Hoyas. Opatrny also set a school record in the women’s 200 individual medley final with a 14th place finish and a time of 2:03.79. Three additional swimmers set school records in the preliminaries: Sophomore Christian Kilgore broke the school record for the 200 individual medley with a time of 1:52.16, junior Amy Ballanfant broke her own school record in the 50 freestyle finishing in 23.97 and Mandel set a record in the men’s 50 freestyle with a time of 20.69.
The Blue and Gray were also did well in both the men’s and women’s 200 freestyle relay. The team of Crist, Lawler, Kilgore and Mandel turned in an impressive time of 1:22.79 to finish in fifth place and earn 28 points for the Hoyas. The women’s relay team of Ballanfant, Bandman, Opatrny and sophomore Alanna Hulburd scored 18 points for the team with a ninth-place finish of 1:36.86.
Two Hoya swimmers who really made a splash on day three of the Big East championship were Opatrny and Ng, as each advanced to the finals and set a school records along the way. Opatrny placed second with a record-breaking time of 55.58 in the 100 butterfly B final to earn seven points for the team. while Ng broke the school record in the 100 backstroke preliminariess with a time of 50.58 before earning the Blue and Gray three points with a sixth- place finish. Although Ng and Opatrny were the only swimmers to advance to the finals on day three, they were joined by Ballanfant in the record books when the junior swam the 100 breaststroke in 1:05.45.
On the fourth and final day of the meet, the men turned in a series of strong performances to seal their sixth-place finish. Four swimmers — Quincy, freshman Greg Romanov, Ng and senior Trevor Kosmo — made it to the finals in their events. Quincy and Romanov finished ninth and 12th respectively in the 1650 freestyle, Ng turned in another impressive performance in the 200 backstroke to finish 16th overall and Kosmo swam a 1:52.71 in the 200 butterfly to take eighth in the B Final. The Blue and Gray wrapped up competition with the men’s and women’s 400 freestyle relay, with the men finishing eighth overall and the women finishing 10th.
