After an opening meet against the Vassar College Brewers, head coach of Brandeis men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams Nicole Carter spoke proudly about her team’s efforts, saying, “The team has worked tirelessly to develop a level of trust and comradery that allows them to work to their fullest potential and achieve our values of grit, grind and gratitude.” Winning 25 of 32 events on the day, the Judges men beat the Brewers by a score of 182-89, while the women beat the Brewers 146-121.
Bailey Gold ’23 was the Judges women’s leader, winning three races against the Vassar Brewers. Individually, Gold won the 100-yard butterfly in 59.53, in addition to the 200 in 2:11.93. She was also a part of the winning 200 medley relay team who swam 1:53.51 to finish 1.17 seconds ahead of Vassar; her teammates were Anastasia Bekou ’25, Olivia Stebbins ’22 and Ema Rennie ’23.
Chloe Gonzalez ’25 competed in her first collegiate meet of her career, where she won two individual races; Gonzalez took the 200 free in 1:59.41 and ninth on the all-time list, in addition to winning the 100 free in 55.17 seconds.
The Judges had some single race winners, too, including Abbie Etzweiler ’22 who competed and won in the 1000-yard freestyle with a time of 11:58.53. Rennie won her event, the 50 free, with a time of 25.62 seconds, a 0.15 second margin over Gonzalez. Abbie Murphy ’24 also contributed to the team’s overall win against the Brewers, as she won the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:40.56. Gazelle Umbay ’22 won the 500-yard free by a margin of three seconds, finishing in 5:39.70.
The Brandeis men’s swimming and diving team was led by sophomore All-American Sam Dienstag ’24, who won three individual freestyle races and one relay. Dienstag captured the 200-yard freestyle in 1:46.49 by a margin of 0.38 seconds; the 500 in 4:46.96 by a margin of eight seconds and, finally, the 1,000 in 9:52.98 by an incredible margin of 20 seconds; Dienstag finished off his incredible performance by swimming the second leg of the winning 4×10 freestyle relay.
Saturday’s meet was also an incredible success for Andrew Ngo ’25, as he won in four races for the men, two individual and two relays. Finishing the 100-yard freestyle in 49.37 seconds and the 200-yard individual medley in 1:59.69, Ngo was just shy of Brandeis’ all-time Top 10 fastest times. Ngo also helped his team to victory in the 200 medley and the 400 freestyle relays.
Seniors Brendon Lu ’22 and Benton Ferebee ’22 were equally as successful in their individual events against the Brewers. Lu won the breaststroke events in both the 100 and 200; his 100 time was 1:00.25 and his 200 time was 2:12.37, ranking him eight and seventh, respectively, among Brandeis’ career Top 10. Ferebee competed in the backstroke events, sweeping his competition, taking the 100 in 55.71 seconds and the 200 in 2:04.71.
Gerald Deng ’25 captured the win in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:01.20, while teammate George Zhu ’24 won the 50 freestyle by a margin of 0.98 seconds. James Barno ’23 flew through his race—the 100-meter butterfly—in 53.75 seconds.
The Judges men outswam their opponent in the 200-yard medley relay and the 400 free relay; Ngo, Lu, Deng and Zhu finished with a time of 1:38.38 in the 200, while Zhu, Dienstag, Ngo and Ido Petel ’24 won the 400 in 3:15.86.
The Judges return to action on Friday evening, Nov. 5, at WPI in a dual-meet with the WPI Engineers and the Babson Beavers at 7 p.m.
