The Binghamton men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams each swept their first home meet of the season with a series of decisive victories on Saturday in the West Gym.
The men defeated Niagara by a score of 164.5 to 129.5, while the women took down two opponents simultaneously: Siena by a score of 178.0-94.0 and Niagara by a score of 158.50-131.50.
The men’s team, having come off of a 186-105 victory against NJIT earlier this month, continued its successful start to the season. Prior to its victories over the weekend, the women’s side lost its first contest of the year at Vermont, 105-177.
BU head coach Brad Smith believes that team efforts from both sides led to the Bearcats’ success.
“We had a lot of fantastic swims across the board, both men’s and women’s,” he said. “Ross [Bernstein] won the [1,000-yard freestyle] and the [500-yard freestyle]; senior captain Katie Chung got her first win of her collegiate career.”
Smith also pointed to junior Maria Trivino’s impressive performance in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:28.83) and sophomore Brooke Pettis’ 100-yard (59.26) and 200-yard (2:11.29) butterfly swims as vital to the team’s victory.
On the diving side, the Bearcats improved remarkably since their last meet.
“Our divers — I believe all of them hit personal records today on the boards,” Smith said.
According to Smith, the team’s youth makes its success even more impressive. On the current rosters, there are more freshmen (27) than returning swimmers.
“I think we’re coming into our own still,” Smith said. “It’s great to see how dominant a lot of our freshmen are.”
Although the freshmen have contributed thus far, Smith is aware that the lack of collegiate swimming experience on the team could be a challenge going forward.
“With a lot of youth comes a lot of inexperience,” Smith said. “I predict we’ll have a lot of ups and downs this season as a result of the youth, but it’s great to see them build confidence like they did today with some outstanding performances.”
Last year, the Bearcats won this contest by even greater margins. On the men’s side, BU defeated Niagara, 171.5-128.5, while the women bested both the Purple Eagles, 206-88, and Siena, 190-108.
Smith emphasized that much of the team’s energy and enthusiasm comes from a new philosophy toward teamwork.
“A big drive this year is that we really preach team harder than we ever have,” Smith said. “The captains are doing a fantastic job of leading the charge in terms of that. The team is just super positive — high level of energy, great attitude. It’s just contagious.”
The meet was a Code Green event, in which all student-athletes were encouraged to attend in support of their fellow Bearcats.
“If you watch the meet, every single person is on their feet, they’re all cheering, they’re raising the energy level for everyone, including the parents and the fans behind them,” Smith said. “We have great fans.”
Looking toward the future, Smith said there is still room for improvement across the board.
“Honestly, we’ve still got to improve everywhere,” Smith said. “[There were] outstanding swims, but there’s still room to grow everywhere. We’re still far from where we can be and will be, so it is promising to see that, but we’ve still got a long way to go.“
Both the men’s and women’s teams are scheduled to return to the pool Saturday, Nov. 12 for a home contest against VMI and Colgate. The meet is set for 1 p.m. at the West Gym in Vestal, New York.