The Brandeis swimming and diving teams combined to win four of five matchups this past Friday at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute invitational. 

The women’s team faced off against WPI, Babson College and Smith College for a four-way duel. Led by Audrey Kim ’21, the women’s team got off to a hot third-place start in the 400-yard medley. With Kylie Herman ’19 cleaning up at the tail end, the Judges finished with an overall time of 4:16.91. Talia Borenstein ’21 followed up the performance with a silver medal in the 1000-yard freestyle event, swimming to a time of 11:26.44 to beat out sophomore Cialian Gonyea of WPI. Herman matched Borenstein’s second-place finish with a time of 2:03.19 in the 200-yard freestyle event, giving the Judges a nice lead over Babson and Smith College.  

WPI still held a tight grip on first place, with sophomore Sydney Seo narrowly beating out Kim in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 1:02.72. Annie Huang ’21 and Natalya Wozab ’20 combined for two top-five finishes in the 100-yard breaststroke but were unable to outmaneuver WPI, who took home the first-, second- and fourth-place finishes. 

Amy Sheinhait ’18 continued to fight the Engineer tide and took home a bronze in the 50-yard freestyle. Kim was again out mastered by WPI, losing first place by centimeters in the 200-yard backstroke event. Herman and Borenstein went back-to-back in the 500-yard freestyle, snagging third and fourth place only to have WPI steal the gold and silver medals yet again.

Rachel Goldblatt ’21 finally cracked the WPI onslaught, hitting the boards in 1:02.64 in the 100-yard butterfly and taking home the first gold of the day. WPI failed to place in the top-eight finishes for the event, with the Judges taking fourth and fifth place. Kim continued to put on a show for the crowd, taking home her second silver of the day in the 400-yard individual medley event. Sabrina Greer ’19 and Borenstein clocked in seconds later, taking home third and fourth, respectively. 

The Judges capped off the day with a second-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle relay. Though the team took home a bevy of medals on the day, their efforts were for naught against the Engineers’ attack. The Judges fell to WPI 176-94, but managed to offset the loss with 177-67 and 176-118 wins against Babson and Smith, respectively. 

The men’s team had a solid showing, going 1-1 on the day and beating out Babson 157-122 on the heels of outstanding rookie performances. Richard Selznick ’21 took home two golds on the day, knocking the competition out of the water in the 1000- and 500-yard freestyle events. Daniel Wohl ’21 added to the hardware display with a win of his own in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:47.68. Fellow underclassman Tamir Zitelny ’20 stole a third gold for the Judges in the 200-yard backstroke, bumping the Judges up in the standings with a time of 2:02.85. Zitelny followed up that performance with a 2:00.34 time in the 200-yard freestyle, good for silver. Wohl and Selznick tacked on a few more silvers with wins in the 200-yard breaststroke and 400-yard individual medley events, respectively. The Judges finished the day with a second-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle relay. 

Both teams will continue on to Bentley University this coming Friday for a chance to improve their records. The men sit at a superb 4-1 record, while the women have struggled, managing only two wins in six scored events. 

The meet is not for another two weeks, so the Judges have plenty of time to prepare. As with other Brandeis sports this season, the first-year athletes have been outstanding and will look to build on their impressive collegiate debuts. The talent is undeniable for both Brandeis squads and it remains to be seen how they will perform. Fans can look forward to the Judges’ long road stand ending with the first scoring home meet against Colby College on Dec. 9.