The Binghamton men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams came back from several deficits throughout their meet against Canisius only to fall short of winning on Saturday afternoon. The women’s squad (4-2) lost, 161-139, and the men (4-1) fell, 155-145.
Going into the 100-yard butterfly, the women’s team trailed, 126-100.
“We knew that our girls in particular already had some experience of what to do in close meets, and keeping their chins up when events don’t go our way and bouncing back from it,” said BU head coach Brad Smith.
The women’s team used that resilience to take first, second and third place in the 100-yard butterfly. However, Canisius responded by securing the top three finishes in the women’s 3-meter dive, securing the victory.
The men came even closer to victory. Down, 135-129, they took first, fourth and fifth place in the 200-yard individual medley to bring their score within one point of Canisius’ heading into the final event. However, Canisius outdid the BU men in the end, by taking first place in the 200-yard freestyle relay.
Smith, however, is confident that the loss won’t weigh too heavily on his squads.
“Years past, it’s been if we lose a swim, if we lose a meet, the morale seems to dwindle a little bit,” Smith said. “We seem to take a couple of steps backward. This year we’re seeing that the attitude has gone full circle and the team is buying in.”
Smith pointed to the performance of freshman Thomas Mackey as one of the team’s many attempts to come back. Mackey came second in the 100-yard breaststroke to Canisius senior Wyatt Sintay, before defeating Sintay en route to a first-place finish in the 200-yard breaststroke later in the meet.
“He could’ve checked out after that,” Smith said. “But he didn’t and he was resilient.”
Smith also highlighted the swimming of sophomore Alex Brion, who won the men’s 50-yard freestyle and the 100-yard freestyle. Brion has won first in every 50-yard freestyle he’s competed in this season.
“[Brion’s] been the most dominant swimmer in the program this season,” Smith said.
The Bearcats’ main weakness was their diving. The women’s team was outscored in diving, 32-6, while the men were ousted, 29-9.
Smith attributed part of the loss to key injuries on the women’s team and as well as this being only the team’s second road game. Freshmen Nicole DiGiacomo and Olivia Santos, and senior captain Cindy Shi were injured and did not swim on Saturday. Smith also recognized the impressive performances of the Golden Griffins.
“I gotta tip my hat to Canisius,” he said. “They did an outstanding job and they earned it.”
Both the men’s and women’s teams are set to return to the pool at the Bucknell Invitational. The meet is set for Dec. 2 at Kinney Natatorium in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania.