By Staff
With a two-point lead on Denison University in the final men’s swimming event, Kenyon’s 4×100-yard freestyle team took to the block. Unfortunately, the Lords’ relay team, made up of Austin Caldwell ’15, Percy Gates ’16, Wes Manz ’15 and Joey Duronio ’16, were tapped out by Denison’s time of 3:04.24, while Kenyon finished in second by a razor-thin margin with a time of 3:04.91.
This past weekend, Kenyon swimming and diving had its second dual meet of the season against archrival Denison. Despite this loss, the Lords won several other events, taking both the 1,000- and 500-yard distance events. Andrew Chevalier ’14 won the 1,000-yard freestyle with a time of 9:37.93 and Joe Guilfoyle ’15 won the 500-yard freestyle with a 4:43.03. Both defeated Denison’s dominant distance swimmer, Al Weik. Kenyon took four more of the long and middle distance events, with Ian Reardon ’17 winning the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 1:55.52 and Harrison Curley ’15 winning the 200-yard backstroke in 1:51.81. Trevor Manz ’17 won in both the 200-yard breaststroke and the 400-yard individual medley with times of 2:05.84 and 4:02.61, respectively. In the sprint events, Caldwell claimed first in the 100-yard freestyle in 46:39 and the 200-yard free in 1:41.63.
Head Coach Jess Book ’01 noted a change in the Lords’ strength as a team this season. Kenyon typically dominates the sprints and is not known for its prowess in distance events. “It’s a change in personnel, and we just have to be understanding of that when we get to that,” Book said. “Our endurance-based events were pretty good ﾗ we went five of the top six [swimmers] in the 1,000 [and] six of the top seven in the 500.”
The Ladies also finished second to Denison with a final meet score of 136-164. The Ladies got off to a rough start, with their opening 200-yard medley relay team of Megan Morris ’16, Laura Duncan ’17, Erika Jensen ’17 and Haley Townsend ’16 losing to Denison by 1.20 seconds. At the end of the meet, Denison managed to lock down the last four events ﾗ 500 freestyle, 100-yard butterfly, 400-individual medley and the 4×100 freestyle relay ﾗ to boost themselves to a win over the Ladies.
Still, the Ladies managed to produce some excellent swims, with Mariah Williamson ’16 snatching two wins, in the 1,000-yard freestyle with a time of 10:21.01, and the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:07.17. Katie Kaestner ’16 swept the breaststroke events for the Ladies, claiming first in both the 100-yard and 200-yard breaststroke with times of 1:05.09 and 2:23.73, respectively. Finally, Maria Zarka ’16 dominated the diving against Denison, claiming a point total of 239.20 in the one-meter diving and 295.00 in the three-meter, beating Denison’s divers by a sizable margin in the three-meter diving.
“Overall, on both sides, I’m pleased about the way we competed this past weekend,” Book said. “I do know that we can be and will be more competitive when it matters more at the end of the season.”
The Lords and Ladies will hit the water next on Nov. 16 when they take on Ohio Northern University at home in the James A. Steen Aquatic Center.
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