Tough weekend for swimming, diving teams

The men's swimming and diving teams traveled to New London, Conn., on Saturday to face the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and Wheaton College. The same day, the women's team competed in the Princeton University Invitational against Division-I teams.

The men beat Wheaton College 207-95 and lost to the U.S. Coast Guard Academy 175-116.

Sophomore James Bedell had a strong meet, finishing first in both the 200-yard freestyle (1:46.28) and the 100-yard butterfly (54.25). Sophomore Bryson Naylor nabbed first in the 200-yard individual medley (2:01.23), and junior captain Andy King finished third in the 1,000-yard freestyle (10:14.04),

"I feel like I'm doing okay right now," King said. "After a hard week of training, I didn't expect anything spectacular."

Despite the hard week, the 400-yard freestyle relay team placed first with a time of 3:18.50.

Junior diver Max Norris has had a strong season so far, and he continued his dominance on Saturday. Norris had first-place dives in the three-meter (285.10) and the one-meter (259.10).

Meanwhile, the women were in New Jersey, taking on Fordham and Bucknell universities and host Princeton University.

There was no team scoring in the meet, but several swimmers for the D-III Violets held their own against the D-I swimmers.

Sophomore Molly Rippe had the most success for the Violets, finishing seventh in the one-mile freestyle (17:32.86). Rippe also swam a leg in the 800-yard freestyle relay with freshmen Savanna Keator and Claire Stephens, and senior co-captain Danielle Hildebrandt; they finished eighth in the relay (8:05.33).

"It is easy to be discouraged when you know that girls you are swimming against are also Olympic-team contenders," Rippe said. "However, it was a great opportunity to prove our mental toughness."

Hildebrandt grabbed 14th place in the 200-yard freestyle (1:58.34), and sophomore Megan Rappa finished 13th in the 400-yard individual medley (4:45.79).

"Our main goal of the meet was to give each race all that we had," Hildebrandt said. "It was a valuable experience for the team that will benefit us in the long run."

On the diving board, sophomore Kelly Dietz proved she can keep up with the D-I divers. In the one-meter dive, Dietz finished sixth with a score of 220.35 and placed fourth (231.45) in the three-meter dive.

Both teams will compete this Saturday against Swarthmore College in Swarthmore, Pa.