The Binghamton men’s and women’s swim and dive teams continued their 2024-25 campaigns at Bryant this past weekend. The Bearcat men captured a decisive 232-121 victory, while the Bearcat women fell 195-158. On both the men’s and women’s sides, a Bearcat competitor achieved triple wins during the events.

“I thought both the men and the women were ready to go and fired up and focused,” said Binghamton head coach Jerry Cummiskey. “I thought the men had a great weekend, winning 15 of the 19 events, and really a good, solid team effort all the way through. The women held their own against one of the top teams in the conference.”

Leading the way for the Bearcat men was senior Elijah Lanfear, who captured first place in the 50 free, 100 fly and 100 back with times of 20.74, 48.50 and 50.34, respectively. The men’s 200 free relay team, consisting of junior Liam Preston, sophomore Cullin Cole and freshmen Evan Peters and Ryaan Alshami captured first place as well, finishing in a time of 1:23.64.

“With 50 swimmers and nine divers, we employ various drill work and make minor tweaks to improve efficiency,” Cummiskey said. “We focus on small adjustments to enhance performance and conduct ample drill work throughout the week.”

Other strong performances for the Bearcat men came courtesy of freshman Tyler Schultz, sophomore Harrison Lambert and Preston, who each took home two individual wins. Schultz took home victories in the 100 breast and 200 IM with times of 57.10 and 1:55.66, while Lambert came out on top in the 200 fly and 400 IM clocking times of 1:52.29 and 4:07.02, respectively. Finishing off the strong performances for BU was Preston, who claimed victories in the 200 free with a time of 1:40.44 and the 100 free with a time of 46.46.

“[Lambert], although he had only two wins, delivered great swims, particularly with his second-place finishes in the 500 and 1,000 events,” Cummiskey said.

Senior Lauren Kuzma spearheaded the Bearcat women’s effort, sweeping the 100 breast, 200 breast and 400 IM with times of 1:03.81, 2:17.33 and 4:28.83, respectively. In addition, junior Maria Pignatelli took home a pair of individual wins, sweeping the women’s 50 and 100 frees with times of 24.28 and 52.53.

“Kuzma has won three individuals and has the three fastest times in the conference in those events,” Cummiskey said. “We need to continue improving in this area, as some handle pressure better than others. We started off down a bit from Friday night on the women’s side and challenged them to start strong, which I think they did.”

Rounding out the winning performances for the Bearcat women was freshman Leonor Coelho who took home a victory in the 200 free with a time of 1:54.57. For the men’s side, Peters and Amir Sadykov each took home a win, with Peters winning the 200 back in 1:50.69 and Sadykov winning the 200 breast in 2:07.34.

“The women held their own against one of the top teams in the conference and competed really well,” Cumminskey said. “We had a strong Friday night and challenged the women to improve on Saturday, which they did.”

BU will continue its season with a meet against Bucknell starting on Saturday, Oct. 26. First race is set for 12 p.m. at the Kinney Natatorium in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania.