The Boston University swimming and diving teams competed in the seventh-annual Boston Winter Open held at the FitRec Competition Pool over the weekend.
On Friday night, sophomore Han Hoang and freshman Abraham Lee recorded the fastest times in the 50-yard freestyle for BU this season. Hoang won the event with a time of 23.51 for the women, while Lee finished with a 20.77, finishing in third for the men.
Head coach James Sica described the impact of the big day from the two.
“That’s really good momentum for us as we go,” Sica said. “This is the first taste they get of that championship experience.”
For some of the seniors, this meet marked the end of their collegiate careers.
In the early Saturday afternoon session, senior Keilah Eckhart and Hoang set up a late push to finish third in the women’s 200-yard medley relay at 1:48.91. The men’s 200 medley relay team finished second, coming in at 1:31.27.
In the final session, Hoang swam another crucial anchor leg to give the Terriers the win in the women’s 200-yard freestyle relay at 1:35.63. The men’s 200 freestyle relay team finished third with a 1:24.83.
Hoang would grab another win in the 100-yard freestyle — her time of 51.32 is the second-fastest on the team this season.
On the men’s side, junior Jackson Hogue finished third in the men’s 200-yard breaststroke just over two minutes after a late comeback in the last half of the race, and senior Jonathan Tsang surged in the final yards of men’s 200-yard butterfly, squeezing into fourth.
Eckhart and fellow seniors Ava Keane, Fia McCarty and Ella Erickson swam their final relay together in the women’s 400-yard medley to a sixth place finish. The relay team brought out a poster labeled “LAST RACE EVER!” to signify and celebrate the end of their journeys.
“It really is an encapsulation of an entire career,” Sica said. “The four years that you’re here as part of this team and representing this program, and that’s the last time that you’re competing as part of this program, but it’s not the last time that you are part of this program. You’re part of this program for life.”
The teams will now prepare for the final meet of the season — the annual Patriot League Championships at Bucknell from Feb. 19 to Feb. 22. Last year, the women’s team finished in third place, while the men finished fifth overall.
“We can’t necessarily control what those other teams are going to do,” Sica said. “But when we’re there, we want to be as prepared as possible to fight for every single inch in the water, fight on every single dive on the boards and just be at our best.”
