Coming off a snow-out at the WNY Invitational in Buffalo, the men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams faced off against conference rival Boston University on Sunday in their season opener.

The men, as expected, thrashed the Terriers 172-112, winning 13 of the 15 events. In addition to playing against a very thin Boston lineup, seniors David Holmes, Brian Koizim and Trevor Stone performed marvelously by winning a combined seven events.

“The team expects this from them,” said head coach Sean Clark about his seniors. “They will give everything they have in the pool.”

Koizim and Stone, the two co-captains, captured wins in the backstroke and butterfly events, respectively. Yet the best show was performed by British sensation Holmes, who captured the 50-, 200- and 500-meter freestyle events. In addition to the senior leaders, underclassmen such as sophomore Brenno Varanda performed impressively as well.

“The freshmen set the tone for the team,” Clark said. He also acknowledged that narrowing the size of his team for the conference tournament will mean “tough decisions.”

The outlook on the rest of the season looks great after the first meet for the Bearcats.

“The team has been training as hard as they can train,” Clark said. “They seemed twice as hungry due to the Buffalo snow-out.” The team will hope to use that advantage at their upcoming home meet against Canisius. The Griffins have a very thin team, and should be handily defeated by the strong Binghamton squad.

The women’s squad did not perform as well, as they fell 188-103. Despite the loss, there were high points.

“Nine women had lifetime-best swims,” Clark said. “A coach couldn’t be happier.”

Swimmer Allyce Brand was strong in her first meet, finishing second in her 100-meter backstroke and third in her 200-meter race. Clark labeled Brand, true to her form since high school, as a leader on the team.

Though the first meet may seem to be a disappointment, the women’s team is a team on the rise. In addition to the nine career-best finishes, Clark said that the women are making improvements and doing work in the pool.

The women should continue to build and are a team that Clark says will “continue to make strides.” They will take part in an important tri-meet against Canisius and Vermont this upcoming weekend. The Catamounts have proved to be a perennially tough conference rival.

“Hopefully we can sneak up on them,” Clark said. Canisius will also prove to be a tough match, but Clark believes that the Bearcats “have enough to stay ahead.” Vermont does not have a men’s team.

This will be the Bearcats’ first home meet of the season, and will take place Saturday at 1 p.m. at the West Gym.