In a sport that stresses individual performances, the Binghamton men’s swimming and diving team united and overcame the odds to clinch a second place finish by just .5 points (677.5) over Stony Brook (677).
UMBC, the team with the deepest bench, easily claimed the conference title for the third consecutive year with a score of 878.5. Boston (487) finished in fourth, followed by Maine (320) and New Hampshire (188).
“As a team, we won 10 of 18 events,” said junior swimmer David Holmes. “All 10 were conference records, half of those 10 were NCAA ‘B’ cuts.”
The Bearcats might not have claimed the title of conference champs, but their goal of upsetting Stony Brook was accomplished.
“Even though we lost to UMBC, I felt like we won the meet,” Hobe said. “We were told that it was going to be close to impossible to beat Stony Brook and we did the impossible.”
Binghamton capitalized on its strengths in the relays, capturing first place in the 200- and 400-free and medley relays while setting a school and conference record in all four events. Appropriately, the final relay of the four-day meet, the 400-free relay, was the deciding race for Binghamton’s second place finish.
Binghamton needed to win and hope UMBC finished in second — and that’s exactly what happened. Junior Brian Koizim, senior Wade Rimbach, Holmes and sophomore Kaan Tayla claimed the victory for the Bearcats, and the Retrievers finished one second ahead of Stony Brook.
One of the most exciting races of the meet was the 200 IM. While Holmes claimed first (1:49.31), freshman Brenno Varanda (1:52.29) and Koizim (1:53.09) followed right behind in second and third, respectively. That was the first clean sweep in Binghamton’s history, and the Bearcats also claimed sixth, 10th and 13th in the race.
Holmes had two other individual victories, winning the 100 fly (48.95) and 200 fly (1:47.80), while setting school and conference records in all three victories. He also made the NCAA ‘B’ cut in the 200 fly.
Varanda had to step up significantly at Champs too.
“Brenno amazes me every time he swims,” Hobe said. “You think he can’t get any faster, and he just keeps going. He trains really hard, and really earns everything he accomplishes.”
On top of his contribution to the Binghamton sweep of the 200 IM, Varanda claimed first in the 200 breast (2:04.75) and 400 IM (3:59.35), setting a school record in the latter, and contributed to both medley relay victories.
Koizim’s contribution in the relays and his unwavering second-place finish in the 100 (51.71) and 200 (1:52.01) back, and third-place finish in the 200 IM were pivotal to the Bearcats’ success.
“Koizim was my roommate and I told him if he didn’t perform well he wasn’t coming back to the room,” Hobe said, referring to their hotel room at Boston. “I think his efforts are kind of overshadowed. We can always rely on him. He’s a very consistent swimmer. He doesn’t let pressure or anything get to him.”
But even though the Bearcats have the fastest swimmers in the conference, their lack of endurance swimmers may have cost them the title.
“They have the endurance, but we have the speed,” Varanda said. “As soon as we get some more endurance swimmers, UMBC should kiss their winning streak goodbye.”
Overall, Binghamton’s performance at Champs left a resounding imprint of success.
“Every goal we have set as a team this year we have achieved,” Holmes said. “That feels truly amazing. Our team is unusually tough mentally, considering how many freshman and sophomores we have. Things are looking great for next year already.”
On the women’s side, UNH defended its title to claim its second consecutive championship, tallying 787 points. Binghamton came in last with 210.5 points, behind UMBC (733), Boston University (550), Maine (433), Stony Brook (367.50) and Vermont (314).
“I think the whole meet brought everyone a lot closer,” Hobe said. “We feel more like a family now.”
The emotional roller coaster that these swimmers have experienced together has created undeniable ties, which will be useful during next year’s season.
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Sophomore Kaan Tayla was named America East Men’s Most Outstanding Swimmer for the second consecutive year
Tayla won three individual events in the 50 (20.00), 100 (44.14) and 200 free (1:37.59), while setting a conference and school record in each and making the NCAA ‘B’ cuts. Tayla’s 100-free preliminary time of 43.68 was the ninth-fastest in the nation, improving upon his time of 44.00 that solidified his 14th place ranking earlier this season at Bucknell. On top of his individual success, Tayla also contributed to four relay victories. While Tayla’s 50-free time will likely get him invited to NCAAs, Tayla has another opportunity to make the ‘A’ cut this coming weekend at ECACs.