BOSTON, Mass. – Junior Miriam Swisher (Albuquerque, N.M.)and sophomore Natalie Giraldi (Bedford, N.H.) each tallied 18 points on a pair of first place finishes to lead the Simmons College women's swimming and diving team to a 194-90 victory over visiting Westfield State University this afternoon at the Holmes Sports Center Natatorium in Boston, Mass. in the season opener for both squads. The Sharks improve to 1-0 on the season, while the Owls fall to 0-1.
Swisher won the 50-yard backstroke with a mark of 29.47, while also hitting the wall first in the 100-freestyle at 54.74 for the Sharks. Giraldi took the 50-yard breaststroke with a time of 32.50 and later won the 100-yard breaststroke coming in at 1:11.03. The pair helped Simmons win a two relay events as well. Swisher swam the lead leg and Giraldi followed in the 200-yard medley relay, joining sophomore Michaela Morris (Duxbury, Mass.) and first year Kerry Fleming (Northampton, Mass.) to combine for a first-place time of 1:56.46. Swisher led off the 200-yard freestyle relay and Giraldi closed, while juniors Jordan Mattheisen (Seattle, Wash.) and Sarah Price (New York, N.Y.) swam the second and third legs, respectively, as part of a first-place showing and a mark of 1:46.48.
Westfield State first year Alex Frazier (Dracut, Mass.) was the top scorer for the meet, racking up 22 points with a time of 12:00.46 to win the 1000-yard freestyle by more than 12 seconds, before winning the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 1:08.11. She also placed second in the 50-yard backstroke with a time of 32.28. First year Rebecca Pierce (Chelmsford, Mass.) placed second or better in three events to score 17 points for the Owls. She earned a first place finish in the 100-yard individual medley with a time of 1:07.89 to go with second place showings in the 50 and 100-yard breaststroke. First year Monique Groux (Agawam, Mass.) dominated the diving events for Westfield State, scoring 199.73 to win the one-meter board, while putting up 145.95 points to go home with a three-meter board victory.
Morris won the 100-yard butterfly with a mark of 1:05.03 and added a second-place finish in the 100-yard backstroke for the Sharks. Senior Kevyn Lee (New York City, N.Y.) finished first in the 500-yard freestyle by three one-hundredths of a second on a time of 5:56.74 to just edge Mattheisen. Lee also placed second in the 1000-yard freestyle. Fleming tallied 13 points with a first-place finish in the 50-yard freestyle on a mark of 26.04 in addition to a second-place effort in the 100-yard freestyle in her first collegiate meet. First years Laura Simpson (Perkiomenville, Pa.) and Charlotte Rivard (Norwood, Mass.) each had memorable collegiate debuts as well, placing first in the 200-yard freestyle and the 50-yard butterfly, respectively. Simpson swam to a time of 2:04.41 to win by more than six seconds, while Rivard won in a time of 29.48. Simpson also placed third in the 100-yard freestyle and Rivard finished third in the 50-yard freestyle. Junior Alison Gauvin (Whitefield, Maine) led the diving squad for Simmons with 140.63 points on the one meter board to finish second.
The Sharks return to the water on Saturday, October 31 when they host Gordon College and Elms College in a 1:00 p.m. tri-meet, while the Owls return to action on October 31 when they head to Northampton, Mass. to compete in the Smith College relays in Northampton, Mass. at 12:15 p.m.