This weekend the men and women’s swimming and diving travelled to Hartford, Conn. to face Trinity College for a head to head meet. 

The men’s team got their third win of the season with a score of 180-97 while the women lost by 28 points, falling 109-137. 

With the win, the men’s record improved to 3-7 while the women fell to 1-9 on the year. 

The men’s team had a very impressive meet, with a number of swimmers competing at top form. One of the stand-out swimmers was Max Fabian ’15, who managed to win all three of the races he participated in. 

In the 500-yard freestyle, Fabian came out on top, followed by Joey Barr ’17 with a five-second gap. In the 1,000-yard freestyle, once again, Fabian won, followed by Taku Harada ’18. 

To complete the triple, Fabian won the 400-yard individual medley, finishing 3.6 seconds faster than teammate Zach Diamond ’18. 

Another standout performer for the men’s team was Brian Luk ’16. He, along with Fabian, completed the triple, winning the 50 and the 100-yard freestyle along with the 50-yard butterfly. 

In the 50-yard sprint, Brandeis took all three places, with Luk ahead of Abu Bhatarjal ’18 and Evan Thom ’18, who tied for second. Luk finished 1.28 seconds ahead of their 23.45 time. 

In the 100-yard freestyle, Luk had a time of 49.07 and for the 50 fly he had a time of 24.84. 

Rookie diver Sam Zucker ’18 also helped lead the team to success in the meet. 

Zucker earned his first-ever event victories with scores of 194.85 in the three-meter dive and 204.75 in the one-meter dive. 

Eden Zitelny ’17 was another impressive performer for the Judges. He finished second in both the 100- yard backstroke and 100-yard butterfly with times of 58.77 and 56.22. 

Zitelny sees this result as a sign of what is to come. 

“We are very excited about the meet. This is the second [New England Small Athletic Conference] team we have beaten this season and even last year, the team couldn't even imagine that result,” he said. 

The women’s team was not as fortunate with its result. 

The team was plagued by injuries, with a number of key swimmers not being able to participate. 

Neither Theresa Gaffney ’17 or Erin Gawronski ’18 were able to swim in the race, removing two of the Judges’ strongest short-distance racers from the meet. This left a void that the rest of the squad was forced to fill. 

Joanna Murphy ’17 stepped up for the women's side to win two of her four races. 

She finished the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:31.07 and the 1,000 in 11:04.51, though only the former counted for points. 

In addition to those impressive long distance wins, Murphy finished her other two races in second place with times of 2:05.29 in the 200 freestyle and 5:08.56 in the individual medley. 

Teammate Morgan Kolb ’17 also placed in the 200, earning a fourth- place finish with a time of 2:24.36.

The teams’ other two wins came from rookies Yi Sul Richter ’18 and Sherry Tu ’18. Richter won the 1,000-yard freestyle with a time of 11:25.85. 

Tu won the 50-yard butterfly with an impressive time of 28.57, beating her next closest opponent by just over half a second.

The squad also performed well in the 50-yard backstroke, taking three of the top four spots.  

Tu placed second with a time of 30.40, Abby Damsky ’18 earned a third-place finish in 32.66 seconds, and Fay Laborio ’16 finished in 32.79 seconds for fourth place.    

The 50-yard freestyle also showcased the women's skill. Amy Sheinhait ’18 and Maya Saar ’18 received second and third place for the Brandeis squad. 

Sheinhait swam the race 27.42 seconds while Saar finished with a time of 28.53.

In the 50-yard breaststroke, Fallon Bushee ’16 took home third place for the women with a solid time of 35.28 seconds.

The teams now look forward to their race at home against Bridgewater State Universiry on Friday at 6 p.m. 

After that, the squads will be off to Worcester, Mass. to compete with Clark University. 

The team is also preparing for the University Athletic Association Swimming and Diving Championships at Emory University from Feb. 11 through the 14th. Zitelny commented about the upcoming conference championship. 

“We are counting down the days to UAA [Championships] down in Emory, and we are very excited to have all of our training pay off.” 

Both teams finished in last place in the eight-team tournament last year and are hoping to improve upon that result.