Editor’s note: This article was initially published in The Daily Gazette, Swarthmore’s online, daily newspaper founded in Fall 1996. As of Fall 2018, the DG has merged with The Phoenix. See the about page to read more about the DG.
Facing their stiffest competition of the season thus far, the Swarthmore Garnet (6-2, 4-2) was defeated by an unbeaten Gettysburg Bullets team (6-0, 4-0) by a score of 150-55 on Saturday afternoon at Ware Pool.
From the beginning of the meet, the Garnet was energized and had a very strong showing against a Centennial Conference powerhouse.
Josh Satre ’13 had an excellent swim in the 1000 freestyle, winning the event with a time of 10:22.79 in an exciting race that saw several lead changes. But by the final 300, Satre established a lead that he would not relinquish despite a heated chase from Gettysburg opponent Patrick McDevitt.
Although then men could not match Gettysburg in terms of sheer depth, several had swims that were personal bests for the season including men’s medley relay comprised of Roger Chin ’13, Dante Fuoco ’12, Daniel Duncan ’13 and Tim Brevart ’12.
Duncan had strong swims in the 200 IM (2:03.55) and 500 freestyle (5:00.02), and Flaherty was narrowly defeated in the 200 butterfly (2:04.74).
Brevart, too, was just out-touched in the 50 freestyle (22.01), but Coach Sue Davis is confident that he will be ready for conferences.
“Tim is so strong and has been so competitive that he should have a fantastic Conference meet – he has worked so hard this year,” Davis said.
Individually, Satre, Duncan, Flaherty, Chin, Lance Liu ’12, Stan Le ’13, Lucas Zullo ’13, Charlie Hepper ’13, Zach Gavin ’14, and Max Krackow ’15 posted season-best or career-best times in their respective events.
“We didn’t swim slowly,” Davis commented.
Fuoco said that “the meet, despite the fact that both teams lost, was a real marker of tenacity and togetherness. I was proud of the team for having good races and cheering and rooting for each other.”
The men have a lot to be proud of this season and have adjusted well to the absence of several distances swimmers. Davis has also had to rework the line up to accommodate for the absence of Sam Bullard-Sisken, the team’s primary backstroker, because of an early graduation.
Also graduating this winter is Travis Pollen ’12, who will utilize the spring to train for the 2012 Paralympics.
Pollen mentioned that one of the highlights of his career on the Swarthmore swim team was the fact that so many seniors stuck with the program despite the rigorous demands to which Swarthmore student-athletes are subject.
“The guys and gals who have stuck it out are incredible scholar-athletes,” said Pollen. “Their commitment to the sport, despite the demands of school work, is unbeatable. Being a Swarthmore student means facing a lot of lows, but swimming at Swarthmore was a consistent highlight of my college experience,” Pollen added.
Fuoco also mentioned that he was proud of the close bond that the Swat seniors shared.
“We all instantly gravitated toward each other freshman year. It’s rare for a men’s team and women’s team to train together. I think it’s rare for the two teams to be so close.”
Coach Davis was also very proud of her senior class. “They worked hard and have been great competitors. They haven’t given less than 110% effort throughout their careers. I’m going to really miss the seniors.”
The men face Dickinson next Saturday in their last dual meet of the season. The competition will be fierce and a good performance would be another step on the way to the Conference meet.
Fuoco noted that the team is “happy to end our season with a competitive dual meet. It is a nice precursor to the Conference meet”.
The men face Dickinson College in Carlisle on Saturday, February 4th. The meet is set to begin at 2:00 p.m.
