While everyone was away on winter break, the Geneseo Blue Wave men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams were on campus continuing their winning ways. The Blue Wave saw victories over Rochester Institute of Technology, SUNY New Paltz, Monroe Community College and Westminster College. The team’s only loss came against Carnegie Mellon University.
The meets allowed several athletes from the team to be recognized by the State University of New York Athletic Conference with weekly honors. Sophomore Yonghoon Jun had three victories including a solo performance in the 100 butterfly and junior Abby Max won four events against Carnegie Mellon and three against Monroe Community College. For diving, seniors Emily Wanamaker and Brandon Peifer were both honored for their record-setting performances of the week.
To keep the streak alive after coming off a 4-1 stretch, Blue Wave had to face Division III rival SUNY Oswego on Saturday Jan. 25.
The men swam to a 157-132 victory, while the women defeated the Lakers in a dominant 172-102 decision. Both teams remain undefeated in SUNYAC meets.
“Our top swimmers especially are posting some great times right now,” head coach Paul Dotterweich said. “I think we are right where we need to be as we start to look ahead toward the end of the season,” he added.
On the men’s side, junior Kenny Athans led the way – his four victories of the day provided the spark for the Blue Wave. Athans swam the day’s fastest times in the 200-yard breaststroke (2 minutes, 16.51 seconds) and 50-yard freestyle (22.35). For the women, senior Lily Powell continued her impressive season with four victories of her own. Powell’s 58.74 time in the 100-yard butterfly set the record for the fastest time at Alumni Pool.
On the diving boards, freshman Anthony Burgois won the 1-meter event with a pool-record 307.40 score, while senior Brandon Peifer took first on 3-meter with a 294.90 score.
Dotterweich praised his team’s recent performances and said the team is “looking good” coming into the final push of the season. With only two meets left in the regular season including the Geneseo Invitational, Blue Wave is looking to finish strong before the always-challenging SUNYAC championships.
Blue Wave visits Buffalo State College on the morning of Saturday Feb. 1.