After a series of strenuous practice sessions this past week, the Binghamton swimming and diving team opened its season with an intrasquad Green versus White scrimmage on Saturday. With a packed slate of 31 events, the Green squad bested the White squad, 284.5-237.5.
“We saw some great swims today,” Binghamton head coach Brad Smith said. “They swam more events than they usually would in a dual meet. We really pushed some of the harder events and really tested them out.”
The meet was decided in the final event, the mixed 400-yard free relay. Freshman Alex Brion and senior captain Andrew Duszynski, as well as sophomore Courtney Foley and senior Taryn McLaughlin, led the Green side to victory, winning with a four-second advantage.
“Everyone was in very high spirits; there was a lot cheering going on, and that’s what we really want the team to be going forward,” Duszynski said.
Senior captain Claudia Coccaro agreed that the positive atmosphere contributed to the team’s good performance.
“Everyone swam really fast,” she said. “That’s good going into our first meet.”
With the graduation of a talented senior class, which included standout freestyle swimmer Caitlin Kelly who broke the America East championship record in the 50 freestyle last season, Smith viewed the depth of the squad as a major uncertainty. The responsibility of plugging the holes from last year’s departures has fallen to the large and highly praised incoming class of 17 freshmen.
“There’s a ton of freshmen standouts,” Duszynski said. “Our freshman class is insane. Max Willard is amazing, Alex Brion came up with a big win in the 50 free … it was spectacular.”
A key returner for the Bearcats is sophomore Maria Trivino, who already looks in midseason form after winning the 100 yard I.M. and the 100-yard breaststroke. Last year, Trivino broke the freshman record in the 200 I.M., with a time of 2:07:26.
“Maria [Trivino] just killed it today,” Smith said. “The times that she put up in this meet aren’t far [from] what she put up at the conference championships last year, so I expect great things from her this season.”
Smith viewed last season — his first year at the helm of the Bearcats — as a success, but also as a building block toward building a stronger program in the future. On the women’s side, Binghamton defeated Maine for fourth place in the America East championships. This year, however, Smith has his sights set on Vermont, which finished 8-2 in dual meets last season.
“Our goal is to improve in the conference,” Smith said. “We want to beat Maine again, but this time, we want to beat UVM too. Everyday we talk about it and what our goals are.”
The Binghamton swimming and diving teams are set to begin their regular seasons against Vermont, NJIT and Army on Saturday. The meet is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m, from the West Gym in Vestal, New York.