BOSTON, Mass. – Sophomore Miriam Swisher (Albuquerque, N.M.) scored 27 points in each meet to lead the Simmons College women's swimming and diving team over visiting Gordon College, 159.5-91.5, and Elms College, 188-61. Gordon defeated Elms in the meet, 174-73, and the Gordon men defeated Elms, 136-98, today at the Holmes Sports Center Natatorium in Boston, Mass. The Sharks improve to 3-0 on the season, while both Elms squads fall to 0-1 in their first meet of the season and Gordon stands at 1-2 on the women's side and 1-1 on the men's side.
Swisher went undefeated in the double dual meet vs. Elms & Gordon. She finished first in the 50 Back with a time of 28.68, while Gordon first year Hannah Denney (Lemoore, Calif.) finished third with a time of 33.15, which was good enough for first against Elms. Swisher also finished before everyone in the 100 Back with a mark of 1:01.93 to edge out Gordon first year Alexa Bragg (Trumbull, Conn.), who finished second overall and first vs. Elms at 1:03.91. Swisher also added a win in the 50 Free as well, coming in at 24.99, while Gordon senior Julianne Kirkpatrick (Rochester, N.Y. placed third overall and first against Elms with a time of 28.03. Swisher capped the day, anchoring the winning 200 Free Relay along with sophomore Shylee Stewart (Eastham, Mass.), sophomore Sarah Price (New York, N.Y.) and senior Hillary Wong (Quincy, Mass.) to turn in a time of 1:44.92. Gordon's "A" team of junior Nicole St. Martin (Westport, Mass.), Kirkpatrick, Bragg and first year India Boland (Gloucester, Mass.) posted a second-place time of 1:47.30, which was first against Elms.
Boland was the highlight of the 1000 Free, shattering the pool record by 11 seconds with a time of 10:51.72 for Gordon.
First years Michaela Morris (Duxbury, Mass.) and Natalie Giraldi (Bedford, N.H.) each won a pair of events for Simmons. Giraldi hit the wall first in the 100 Breaststroke with a time of 1:11.90 to finish ahead of Gordon senior Katherine Zablocki (Walnut Creek, Calif.), who place third overall and first against Elms with a time of 1:16.79. Giraldi also took the 100 Individual Medley with a time of 1:05.75 to finish ahead of Denny of Gordon, who finished third overall and first against Elms. Morris won the 100 Butterfly with a time of 1:02.91 to place ahead of Bragg, who was second overall with a time of 1:06.28. Morris completed the double-win in Fly events with a first place showing in the 50 as well at 28.69, while Elms sophomore Abigail Will (Hopkinton, Mass.) placed second overall with a mark of 31.99. The Simmons pair was also part of a win in the 200 Medley Relay, joining Stewart and senior Chloe Davis (Merrimack, N.H.) to register a time of 1:55.68 to place ahead of Gordon's Bragg, Zablocki, St. Martin and Boland's second-place time of 1:59.54.
Stewart also won a pair of events for the Sharks, finishing first in the 50 Breaststroke with a time of 32.49 to place ahead of Zablocki's second-place effort for Gordon with a mark of 35.38. Stewart tied with Boland of Gordon to win the 100 Free with a time of 55.01.
St. Martin was the top scorer for Gordon with a pair of wins. She took the 200 Free for Gordon with a time of 2:05.53, while Davis came in at 2:06.33 to place second for Simmons. St. Martin also finished on top in the 500 Free with a time of 5:38.30 to finish ahead of Wong's time of 5:56.72 for the Sharks.
Sophomore Daniel Fauber (Granbury, Texas) led Gordon's men with a meet-high three individual victories. He began his day by leading off the 200 Medley Relay with junior Joshua Florez (West Hartford, Conn.), senior Brett Johnson (Easton, Mass.) and freshman John Nadeau (Middletown, R.I.) for a 1;45.13 first place finish. He finished first in the 200 Free with a mark of 1:50.01, before taking the 100 Fly with a time of 55.34. He also won the 100 Free with a time of 50.28.
Florez and senior Austin Drukker (Bedford, N.H.) were both double winners for Gordon, while freshman Nick Bergstrom (Derry, N.H.) won a pair of events to lead Elms. Florez won the 50 Breaststroke with a time of 28.63 and later earned a win in the 100 Breaststroke with a mark of 1:03.62. Drukker finished first in the 50 Back with a time of 28.68 and placed ahead of all swimmers in the 100 Back with a time of 1:01.58. Bergstrom took the 50 Free in 23.15 and later owned the 50 Fly with a time of 25.91. Bergstrom was also the first leg of Elms' winning 200 Free Relay, along with junior Mikhail Kuyuzov (Swampscott, Mass.), junior James Grippo (Longmeadow, Mass.) and sophomore Nicklaus Cirillo (Gloversville, N.Y.) to post a time of 1:37.62.
Simmons returns to the pool on Saturday, November 8 when it heads to Biddeford, Maine to take on University of New England at 1:00 p.m., while Gordon swims at Regis College in Weston, Mass. at 1:00 p.m. on the same day. Elms travels to Standish, Maine on November 8 for a meet with Saint Joseph's College at 1:00 p.m.
