By Aaron Rodenhausen
Sports Editor
The Shoremen traveled to Lancaster, Pa. last week to compete in Franklin & Marshall College’s annual multi-school meet, the F&M Invitational. Lasting from Nov. 21 to Nov. 23, the event featured nine schools from NCAA Divisions II and III. The Invitational has no bearing on the regular season’s stats but is still a highly anticipated occasion. Swimmers embrace the chance to exhibit their progress so far this year.
“Going into the meet, our general strategy is to just swim the best we can. We want to show everyone else who we are,” freshman Christopher DeLeeuw said. “This meet is going to be a great opportunity to both put our hard work to the test while also learning valuable lessons to then incorporate in future swims as we get into conference season.”
The Shoremen were off to a strong start on Nov. 21, the first day of the meet.
Junior Nathan Rawa set a new record for the College’s men’s swimming program in the 50-yard freestyle event in the preliminary round with a time of 20.81. Rawa broke his own record in the finals, when he shaved the time down to 20.80. The previous record had stood since the 2016 Centennial Conference Championships, when Cody Weiler ‘18 swam a 20.88.
“It’s always cool walking into practice in the morning and seeing your name up on the record board, so anytime you can get another, it feels good,” Rawa said.
Freshman Jackson Rooney also made a splash early in the weekend, as he joined the WC program’s top 10 in both the 200 and 500-yard freestyle events, with times of 1:45.05 and 4:50.99, respectively.
On Saturday, junior James Hackett earned 20th in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:46.28. Sophomore Gabe Summa took 21st in the 100 backstroke with 54.14, and sophomore Brody Salpeter took 23rd in the 400 individual medley (IM) with 4:35.92. Rawa earned second place in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 50.48 and placed fourth in the 100 butterfly with 50.18.
Sophomore Niles Commodore placed seventh in the 100 IM event on Sunday morning, earning seventh all-time at WC. Rawa kicked of the day by breaking another of his own all-time records, this time for the 100-yard freestyle, with a time of 46.14 in the preliminary round.
Senior Connor Kravitz-Yoffee placed seventh in the 1650 freestyle with 16:53.52, and senior Shane Brace secured 15th place in the 200 IM.
Despite the Shoremen giving their all, WC finished in ninth place out of nine at the close of the Invitational with 529 points. Bloomsburg University nabbed first place with 1,553.5 points.
Nonetheless, Rawa’s two broken records in one weekend indicate that the team is progressing rapidly, despite the challenges they may face from opposing swimmers.
“I definitely have a lot of confidence heading into the remainder of the season following the results this weekend,” Rawa said. “Coach Koval has told us we will be faster in February, so I am excited to see how much faster we as a team will get the rest of the way.”
The Shoremen will continue the regular season with a non-conference meet at Widener University in Chester, Pa. at 1 p.m. on Dec. 6.