Members of the Boston University swimming and diving teams began last Saturday’s tri-meet against Binghamton University and the University of Vermont at Competition Pool chanting rousing choruses of ‘Fire It Up!’
They ended the day patting each other on the back for leaving the pool on fire.
The BU women defeated Binghamton, 187-56, and Vermont, 148-95. On the men’s side, the Terriers narrowly defeated the Bearcats, 132-111. Vermont does not field a men’s team.
‘I thought we battled really hard,’ BU coach Bill Smyth said. ‘I was just pleased with the level of intensity throughout the entire week.’
It was a successful day for BU, highlighted by numerous strong performances. However, some races had their share of suspense.
Junior Brigette O’Shaughnessy placed first in the women’s 200-yard individual medley with a 2:10.38 finish, edging Catamount sophomore Kate Weaver by 0.01 seconds.
‘That was really exciting,’ O’Shaughnessy said. ‘Generally, I do a lot better when I don’t look around and stay in my lane. But I looked over and saw [Weaver] and I was like, ‘Oh no, she’s not going to beat me.”
Freshman Jackson Hill anchored a come-from-behind victory for BU in the men’s 400-yard medley relay. The team of Hill and sophomores Bryon Kallert, Matt Rickett and Kyle Ernst finished with a time of 3:27.92, narrowly edging Binghamton’s 3:28.23.
‘Everyone in the relay swam really well,’ Hill said. ‘[Rickett] helped me out a lot on the previous length. It was a nice feeling to win and help my team.’
Smyth said he was pleased with Saturday’s results.
‘I told our men’s team before the meet started, ‘If you can win both relays and both diving events, there’s a 90 percent chance you’re going to win the meet,” Smyth said. ‘They understood the importance that we put on relays and every person stepped up and got the job done.’
Junior Arik Seiler, whom Smyth referred to as the Most Valuable Player of the team, had another strong meet, finishing first in the men’s 100 and 200-yard freestyles.
‘Pretty cool actually,’ Seiler said of being referred to as team MVP. ‘The team in general is doing phenomenally amazing. We’ve stepped it up in every race. We’ve been training hard and lifting hard, and it’s paid off.’
Among the divers, BU finished first in all four events. Senior Tess Waresmith was particularly strong, finishing first in the women’s one and three-meter board events. On the men’s side, senior Andre Watson also placed first in both events.
‘We just didn’t have the depth or the strength,’ Vermont coach Gerry Cournoyer said. ‘BU is a very strong team from top to bottom. My hat’s off to BU.’
Binghamton coach Sean Clark said he was pleased with his team’s effort.
‘We match up very well with Boston University,’ Clark said. ‘It was another bang-up affair with a lot of close races. Some things could have gone either way. It came down to the end of the meet.’
With sibling bragging rights at stake, BU junior Tyson Slesnick faced off against freshman brother Nolan, a Binghamton swimmer, for the first time on opposite teams. They raced in the 1000-yard freestyle and Nolan got the better of this one, finishing first with a time of 9:52.27, while Tyson finished third at 10:09.51.
‘It was a new experience,’ the elder Slesnick said. ‘It’s always kind of hard to lose to your younger brother. I think it will motivate me later.’
‘It felt good,’ Nolan said. ‘He’s definitely beaten me several times, too. It was good to finally get him.’
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