The William & Mary men's swimming team came very close to perfection Friday night against Georgetown, taking 31 of the 33 podium spots to win 170-35 over the Hoyas. The Tribe improved to 2-0 on the year with its fifth-straight win (dating back to last season), while the Hoyas fell to 0-3 overall. This is just the eighth time since 1977-78 that the W&M men's swimming team has won five or meets in a row.
The Tribe swept first and second in all 11 events in the meet, and only missed two third-place finishes to score its 170 points, just four shy of the maximum allowable in an 11-event program. The winning began with a pool record in the 400 medley relay, that came very close to beating the team's dual-meet record as well.
Will Manion (Haddonfield, N.J.) led-off, before handing the baton to
Jeremiah O'Donnell (Chapel Hill, N.C.),
Evan Baker (Chantilly, Va.), and
Joe Eiden (White Plains, N.Y.) in turn. The foursome completed the relay in 3:20.81, shattering the previous pool record of 3:23.61 set by the Tribe in Nov. of 2012, and came just .02 away from the program's dual-meet record that has stood since 2013 (Manion was a member of both those teams). It was also the ninth-fastest relay time in school history.
Senior
Billy Russell (Newport News, Va.) won both of his individual races on the night, taking the 200 free in 1:42.49, and the 100 free in 46.75. In that 200 free, he became the first swimmer to beat his teammate O'Donnell in a dual-meet in this calendar year. O'Donnell, however, came back for a win of his own later in the meet, taking the 500 free in a lifetime-best 4:44.39. Manion also proved victorious, winning the 200 back in 1:48.87.
Senior
Andrew Nyce (Vienna, Va.) won two events of his own, taking the 200 IM in 1:55.21, and coming back to win the 200 breast in 2:05.34. Sophomore
Tommy Kealy (Wilton, Conn.) won the 1,000 free in 9:46.05, and classmate
Kyle Neri (Wallingford, Conn.) took gold in the 50 free at 21.45 seconds. Freshman
Maicoll Gomez (Richmond, Va.) won his first collegiate victory in the 200 fly, touching the wall in 1:53.97. The Tribe's 200 free relay finished the night strong, pulling away from the field over the last half of the race to win in 1:23.78. The team included Eiden in the lead, followed by
Alex Montes de Oca (Orange, Va.), Neri, and Russell.
William & Mary is back in action next weekend, traveling to Newark, Del., for the annual CAA Pod Meet on Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 31-Nov. 1. Once again, the Tribe will face Delaware and UNCW, after defeating both teams in this meet each of the last two years.
