The weekend of Friday, Nov. 15 and Saturday, Nov. 16 was a busy one for the Brandeis University swimming and diving teams. The men’s and women’s teams both competed in their annual meet against the Bentley University Falcons and the Colby College Mules.
On Friday, the Judges went head to head with Bentley. The women lost 97-205 while the men lost 103-185. These losses lowered the women’s record to 2-5 and the men’s record to 2-3. The Judges, however, had three wins in the individual races.
For the women’s team, first-year Bailey Gold ’23 captured two triumphs, winning the 200-yard butterfly and the 100-yard butterfly events. Her performance in the 200-yard butterfly beat the old meet record, set in 2009, with a time of 2:10.04. Gold was also able to finish the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 59.82 seconds. On the men’s team, Tamir Zitelny ’20 won the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 54.51 seconds.
Saturday’s competition bore similar results as Friday, as the Judges took on Colby College. The women lost 100-191, and the men lost 108-176. This put the women’s overall record at 2-6 while the men moved down to 2-4.
Regardless of the team loss, there were several individuals who had stellar performances. For the women, Olivia Stebbins ’22 was victorious in both the 100 and 200-yard breaststroke events. Stebbins secured first place in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:11.80, and the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:38.70. Besides Stebbins’ win, the Judges also won the 200-yard freestyle relay; the relay team consisted of Uajda Musaku ’21, Sophia Chevez ’21, Audrey Kim ’21 and Ema Rennie ’23. Rennie also won the 50-yard freestyle race, completing it in 25.89 seconds.
On the men’s side, Brendon Lu ’22 placed first in three individual events. Lu won the 100-yard breaststroke, 200-yard breaststroke and 200-yard individual medley. He swam a time of 1:02.50 in the 100-yard breaststroke event and 2:16.55 in the 200-yard breaststroke event. Tamir Zitelny ’20 also contributed to individual wins with his performance in the 100-yard butterfly and the 100-yard backstroke. Zitelny completed the 100-yard butterfly in 51.90 seconds, and the 100-yard backstroke in 53.27 seconds, which was a season personal best.
The Judges will return to the pool for two meets this weekend, taking on Coast Guard in New London, CT on Saturday, Nov. 23, and hosting Tufts University at the Linsey Pool on Sunday, Nov. 24.
