By Jordan Fairchild
Elm Staff Writer
On Saturday, Nov. 6, the Washington College men’s and women’s swimming teams raced against the Salisbury Sea Gulls at home at Casey Swim Center in the “War on the Shore.” Both the Shoremen and Shorewomen defeated the Sea Gulls, 196–64.
The Shoremen won 10 individual events and a pair of relays during the meet.
“The team has been working a lot on culture more than anything. We find that when everyone gets behind one another, we swim faster than imagined,” sophomore Jay Dadhania said. “Uplifting one another during hard practices, high fiving each other after hard practices, and cheering on one another when we race from the blocks during practice are just some of the ways we uplift one another during practices.”
Junior Gage Mandrell won two individual events for the Shoremen. He finished in 47.51 in the 100 freestyle and 59.86 in the 100 breaststroke. Both results were his personal-best and the breaststroke was the eighth-fastest time in school history.
Freshman Zach Affeldt won the 100 backstroke in 55.04 and the 100 butterfly in 54.25. Senior Nate Braddock won the 50 freestyle with a time of 23.40 and the 500 freestyle in 5:04.99.
With two individual wins each, Mandrell, Affeldt, and Braddock were team leaders.
For the underclassmen Shoremen, freshman Chase Hensen saw a victory in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:50.04. Both freshmen Carson Taylor, in the 200 breaststroke, and Jack Poleto, in the 200 butterfly, won with times of 2:25.23 and 2:03.52.
Sophomore Justin Morris won the 200 individual medley in 2:05.08.
“We brought in a great group of freshmen and are in the process of building our team into a powerhouse,” Dadhania said. Seeing this team train together excites me with the potential of this team this year in conference and future years down the road.”
In the 200 freestyle relay, Affeldt, Hensen, and sophomores Bianti Danaj and Benjamin Wilson claimed a 1:28.97 victory over the Sea Gulls.
Mandrell, Hensen, Poleto, and Wilson won the 200 medley relay in 1:39.90.
The Shoremen have a record of 2–2 overall.
The Shorewomen won 13 individual events and a pair of relays.
Leading the team in individual wins for the meet was senior Teresa Draves and freshman Kylee Smith, each with two wins for the day.
Draves won the 100 and 200 backstroke with respective times of 1:02.55 and 2:17.23.
Smith won the 50 and 500 freestyle with 25.92 and 5:26.00 as her times.
For the freshmen class, Ayana Davis won the 100 butterfly in 1:04.14 and Lilly Hartmann won the 100 freestyle in 56.92.
Sophomore Laurel Krause won the 1000 freestyle with a time of 11:36.20 and sophomore Emma Schultz won the 200 freestyle with a time of 2:02.73 minutes and seconds.
Junior Kristina Curley won the 200 butterfly in 2:26.85.
In the breaststroke, seniors Emily Homer and Alexa Luecke won the 200 in 2:44.16 and the 100 in 1:12.56, respectively.
“This team has so many swimmers that have the potential to break records and place well at Conferences,” Kenley Hewitt said. “Our team goals are really to keep each other motivated and keep a positive and uplifting culture, we give it our all so that we can achieve these goals and hopefully surpass them.”
Senior Anna Hall won the 200 individual medley with a time of 2:21.82.
Draves, Homer, Curley, and Hall raced the 200 medley relay for a 1:57.12 victory over the Sea Gulls.
Schultz, Luecke, Smith, and freshman Emily Lampieri raced the 200 freestyle relay for a 1:42.57 win.
The Shorewomen have a record of 2-3 overall.
“I can’t wait to see how we do going forward,” Hewitt said. “We are already putting out times that are crazy fast, so I can’t wait to see where we will be mid-season.” Both teams will travel to Westminster, Md. to compete against Centennial Conference opponent McDaniel College on Saturday, Nov. 13.
Elm Archive Photo