This past weekend was a weekend of almosts for the Boston University men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams. The men’s swim team lost a tough meet to Colgate University on Saturday at Lineberry Natatorium, 137-100. The women had an even closer bout with the Colgate Raiders, but still lost the meet by a score of 132-111.
The men’s defeat was their second loss in as many meets. They also lost Oct. 21 to the Binghamton University, 172-112. Although the team lost again, Coach Bill Smyth was pleased with the team’s performance.
“I expected us to perform at a pretty high level,” Smyth said about Saturday’s meet. “We were quite tired from all the lifting that we had been doing. However, I think we performed well for the most part.”
Smyth was especially happy with the performances of sophomore Christina Ruggiero in the 500-yard freestyle, Griffin Moodie in the 200-yard breaststroke and Megan White for her work in both diving events.
The Terriers had victories from Ben Kaiser in the 1000-yard freestyle, Brian Lawler in the 1- and 3- meter dives, Greg Dierksen in the 500-yard freestyle and Moodie in the 200-yard breaststroke.
The Terriers also had second place finishes in the 400-yard medley relay. Freshman John Passaro came in second in the 1000-yard freestyle at 10:33.58. Freshman Kyle Berg notched a second place finish in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:50.55. Another freshman, Arik Seiler, finished the 50-yard freestyle in 23.36 seconds, which was good for second place. He also placed second in the 100-yard freestyle, crossing the line at 48.65.
Ben Kaiser placed second in the 200-yard backstroke at 2:04.93. The high scorer for BU was Lawler. His two first place finishes were good for 18 points in the meet.
As for the women, Liisa Young grabbed first for the Terriers in the 1000-yard freestyle with a time of 10:51.09. Megan White finished first in the 1-meter dive with a score of 240.23. Christina Ruggiero won the 500-yard freestyle at 5:12.82. Alex Crerar won the 3-meter dive with a score of 249.98 and Lidija Breznikar won the 200-yard breaststroke at 2:23.12.
The BU team won the 400-yard freestyle relay with a time of 3:35.64, which was good for 11 points. Brigette O’Shaughnessy led off the relay for the Terriers and was followed by Ali Chester and Ruggiero. The team’s anchor Eve Kinsella sealed the win by tapping the mat.
In the 200-yard freestyle, O’Shaughnessy finished with a time of 1:55.99, which was good enough for second place. Breznikar grabbed second in the 200-yard IM at 2:11.22. Alex Crerar added to her point total with a second place finish in the 3-meter dive. Her score in that event was a respectable 228.90. Ali Chester got second in the 200-yard backstroke. Her time of 2:11.08 gave her four points for the event. Megan White placed second in the 3-meter dive with her score of 221.18.
Smyth remains optimistic, despite the teams’ losses. The main problem with the team is not the quality of the swimmers, but the quantity of them, according to the coach.
“The teams have no glaring weaknesses, but we are not a deep team,” he said. “We have a lot of athletes capable of doing some great things at the top of our lineups, but we need to recruit for our squad.
“It was interesting to see how the swimmers performed in the meet,” Smyth continued. “Whatever I find out in practices is much different from the meets. We all learn a lot more about our talent and abilities in the races, and we hope to use them to our advantage. Races bring out what swimmers are truly capable of.”
When asked about the team’s intangibles, Smyth persisted with his glass-half-full attitude.
“The dedication and commitment is great, and their team chemistry is as well,” he said. “The team’s character is exceptional, and it’s exactly what we need to move the program in the right direction.”