Both the men’s and women’s swim teams spent December 30 through January 9 at the Swimming Hall of Fame in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., conditioning themselves for the upcoming New York State Championships and, in the case of a number of team members, for the NCAA national championship meet that follows it. During their time in Florida, the team cumulatively swam 114,400 yards—approximately 65 miles.
Only three days after returning home from the grueling winter training trip, the men’s team kicked off their season by hosting the 2002 Henry Kumpf Invitational at Robison Pool. Clarkson, SUNY-Oneonta, Lemoyne, SUNY-New Paltz, Ithaca, SUNY-Cortland, and Skidmore competed in the annual event.
The RPI men posted an impressive second place finish with a score of 432 team points, behind Ithaca who scored 640 team points. Lemoyne College came in third with 350 team points followed by New Paltz (298), Cortland (254), Clarkson (176), Oneonta (133), and Skidmore with 55 team points.
Among the strong performers for the Engineers was Ben Fell, who placed first in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1:59.44. Additionally, Pat Fell took second place in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:47.91. Freshmen Pat Spooner and Chris Behle both set new personal best times in the 1000-yard freestyle.
The team kept up their competitive momentum as both the men’s and women’s teams hosted Union College last Wednesday, but despite some very impressive performances, both teams fell to the Dutchmen. The women’s team scored 95 team points to Union’s 137, and the men’s team scored 98 team points as Union answered with 139.
The RPI women began the meet with a win in the first event, the 400-yard medley relay as swimmers Sara Chadwick, Meghan Hartman, Moe Desi, and Allison Geer took first with a time of 4:17.62. Allison Geer returned in the fifth event, the 200-yard freestyle, and took first again with a time of 1:59.45. Later in the meet she added a first place finish in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 54.30. Sophomore Meghan Hartman also had two first-place finishes in the 200-yard IM (2:11.90) and the 200-yard butterfly (2:14.38). The men’s team had two individual first-place finishes, Pat Fell in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:02.54 and senior Paul Gaffuri in the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:16.76.
The women’s team saw action again on Saturday as they hosted the 2002 RPI Invitational. The RPI women took fourth place with 251 team points—Connecticut College won the meet with a score of 490.5. The Engineers started out the meet strong with a win in the 400-yard medley relay with a time of 4:16.36. Hartman continued the winning streak with two first places in the 200-yard butterfly (2:14.66) and the 200-yard breaststroke (2:27.71). Geer added to the team points with a second-place finish in the 50-yard freestyle (24.56).
The teams’ season will continue on Saturday with a 1 pm meet at area rival Skidmore.
