The men and women’s swim teams were unable to make a splash this weekend at their meet against Wheaton College. In the first scored event of the year, the Brandeis teams looked sluggish and were unable to come away with a win. The women’s team lost by 122 points, falling 206 to 84, while the men’s squad did not make much of an improvement, losing 177.5 to 107.5. 

The event kicked off with the women’s 200-yard medley relay. Off to a slow start, the Judges’ A team was thoroughly beat by Wheaton’s A, B, and C teams, mustering up a meager two points for the event. Sherry Tu ’18 battled it out at the end with  junior Kelley Baylis of Wheaton but was narrowly edged out by just over one second. The Judges’ B team finished the event in fifth place with a time of 2:08.35. The men’s team saw slight improvement, with the A team placing third. Evan Thom ’18 solidified the win with an impressive time of 22.79. Yet with only two points, both teams looked to rebound in the next events. 

The women’s 1000-yard freestyle looked promising, with Joanna Murphy ’18 bursting out of the gate. Murphy dominated the scene, grabbing first place and a much- needed nine points in just 11:22.69. 

The rest of the team failed to keep up, and Brandeis only gained one more point in the event. With the women’s squad just barely staying afloat, the men’s team needed to redirect the audience’s attention. The team did just that, as Zach Diamond ’18 stole first place with a time of 10:23.49 and Sam Scudere-Weiss ’18 took home fourth in the men’s 1000 -yard freestyle with a finish of 11:52.81. 

The 200-yard freestyle proved to be a difficult matchup for the team.  Kylie Herman ’19 carried the weight of the team and came out strong as she took the gold in the women’s 200-yard freestyle with a time of 2:03.24.  

Taku Harada ’18 and Cameron Braz ’17 had solid showings, winning second place and third place respectively, in under two minutes. The backstroke and breaststroke events proved to be the bane of the team, as the Judges failed to make it above third place. Garnering only six and eight points for the men and women’s team respectively, the team seemed to be struggling. The team made a small comeback in the 500-yard freestyle with Herman and Diamond taking first place and nine points for each squad. 

The rest of the events did not go the Judge’s way, though, placing second only twice in the next six events, excluding diving. 

But the Judges were not going to go down without a fight and showed a burst of energy as the meet came to an end. The Judges dominated the 200-yard freestyle relay. 

The women’s team totaled thirteen points, taking first and third place, while the men’s squad made a significant fifteen-point dent with first-and-second place finishes.

Diamond remarked, “One of our team goals for this year is to have a ‘go-get-em’ mentality, meaning that we have to go give all we got, whether it be in practice or at meets. Keeping this mentality in mind, the team and I are looking forward to performing well at meets for the rest of the year.” 

Ultimately, the meet came down to the peripheral players. While Brandeis took first in a few events, the rest of the team was unable to win the extra few points, which made a huge difference in the long run. 

The team hopes to rebound and erase their early-season results next week at the University of Rochester Invitational.