Records were shattered left and right this weekend when the RPI men’s and women’s swimming and diving team hosted the Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association championship meet. Of the 37 events held, new record times were established in 20 of them, including six that were set by a pair of Rensselaer swimmers.
Sophomore Meghan Hartman was named female swimmer of the meet after winning three events. Hartman won the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:09.97, good enough to automatically qualify for the NCAA Championship Meet in the spring. She also provisionally qualified in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2:10.96 and the 400-yard individual medley with a time of 4:37.06. All three times were new meet records.
Allison Geer also won three events and set three new high-water marks in the championship meet: the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 24.42, the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:58.54, and the 100-yard freestyle in 53.35. Her times in the 50- and 100-yard freestyles also provisionally qualified her for nationals.
While Hamilton College took home first place in both the men’s and women’s competitions for the third year in a row, the Engineers had a fairly successful meet overall, with the men’s team finishing in third place with a team score of 572.5. The women’s team finished in fourth place, behind Hamilton, Union, and Rochester, with 366 team points.
The swim team is now preparing for their winter training trip to Florida during break and is looking forward to returning for the second half of their season in the spring semester.
