WELLESLEY, Mass. - Sophomore Miriam Swisher (Albuquerque, N.M.) won a pair of events and broke her own school record in the 50-yard backstroke to lead the Simmons College women's swimming & diving team in a 171-91 loss to host Wellesley College this afternoon in Wellesley, Mass. The Sharks suffer their first loss of the season as they fall to 4-1, while the Blue improve to 2-0.
Swisher broke her own school record with a time of 28.19 in her backstroke leg of the 200-yard medley relay for Simmons. Her teammates in the race were first years Natalie Giraldi (Bedford, N.H.) and Michaela Morris (Duxbury, Mass.) and senior Hillary Wong (Quincy, Mass.), combining to record a time of 1:55.45 to place second within four tenths of a second to the Blue quartet of sophomore Sharon Wu (Northfield, Ill.), first year Sophia Dillon-Davidson (Amherst, Mass.), sophomore Hannah Augst (Richmond, Va.) and senior Keelin Nave (Minneapolis, Minn.), who finished with a time of 1:55.03.
Swisher won the 100-free with a mark of 55.70 in her first entry of the season in the race and added a win in the 100-back with a season-best time of 1:01.24 to win the event for the fourth straight week for the Sharks.
Giraldi placed second in a pair of events for Simmons, coming in behind Swisher in the 100-free with a time of 59.83, followed by Wong, who placed third with a time of 1:00.20. Giraldi also finished second in the 100-breaststroke to junior Erin Yang (Southborough, Mass.) with a time of 1:12.06, while Yang touched the wall at 1:10.27 for Wellesley. Giraldi also scored with a fourth-place effort in the 200-individual medley with a time of 2:28.11. Junior Dorothy Ren (San Jose, Calif.) won the race at 2:15.78 for Wellesley. Morris turned in a second-place showing for the Sharks in the 200-fly at 2:25.00, while Ren won the event for the Blue with a time of 2:17.81. Morris put three more points on the board for Simmons with a third-place finish in the 100-fly on a time of 1:04.55, while Nave came in at 1:01.65 to win for Wellesley.
Senior Joleigh Ferro (Pittsfield, Mass.) clocked a 26.70 to finish third in the 50-free for the Sharks. Nave won the race for the Blue with a mark of 25.27. Senior Chloe Davis (Merrimack, N.H.) also scored for Simmons with a third-place showing in the 200-back on a time of 2:25.06 as Wellesley sophomore Leah Furman (Canonsburg, Pa.) won the event with a time of 2:18.56.
The Sharks will swim again on Tuesday, December 2 when they host Babson College at the Holmes Sports Center at 6:00 p.m., while the Blue travel to Cambridge, Mass. to take on Massachusetts Institute of Technology on November 21 at 7:00 p.m.