The William & Mary men's swimming team had a field day Saturday against VMI, setting a total of eight records en route to a 167-68 Senior Day victory. The Tribe won every event before exhibitions, and in fact only lost four positions total to the Keydets to finish the dual-meet season at 7-3 overall. This year's senior class is the first in school history to go their entire career with at least seven wins each year.
W&M's record haul included five pool records and three dual-meet records, and got started in earnest in the 1,000 free. Sophomore
Carter Kale (Williamsburg, Va.) swam a collegiate-best 9:28.91, the 10th-fastest race in school history, and broke the pool record by nearly a full second. Kale now ranks eighth all-time among W&M athletes in the event. Next came the 200 fly, where senior
Sean Higgins (Wilton, Conn.) made the most of his final home meet with a dual-meet record 1:51.40, breaking the previous mark set in 2015 by a slim .01 seconds.
The 50 free saw freshman
Colin Wright (Williamsburg, Va.) tie the pool record with a fast 20.56, matching the mark set by former Delaware standout Andrew Zinn in 2008, and also shatter the Tribe's dual-meet record of 20.69 set back in the fall season by
senior
Joe Eiden (White Plains, N.Y.). Wright's race was also tied for the 14th-fastest race ever for W&M. Eiden took the spotlight himself next, in the 100 free, timing 45.19 to blow apart the pool record of 45.46 that had stood since 2014.
Two more events and three more records awaited, and they were perhaps the biggest ones of the afternoon. In the 400 IM, freshman
Chris Balbo (Short Hills, N.J.) added to his lore with a strong time of 3:59.87, finally taking down the 25-year-old pool record of 4:00.09 set by Spanish Olympian Frederick Hviid back in 1992. The final race of the day was the 400 free relay, where the team of
Kyle Neri (Wallingford, Conn.),
Alex Henderson (Hopewell, Va.),
Alex Montes de Oca (Orange, Va.), and Eiden combined to swim 3:03.50, the 15th-fastest race in school history. It also broke the pool record (3:04.29), previously set by Virginia Tech in 2016, and the W&M dual-meet record set last year at ECU (3:03.67).
Beyond the record-setters, numerous other performances worth noting occurred. In the 200 medley relay, the team of
Wyatt Grubb (Mechanicsville, Va.), Montes de Oca,
Jack Doherty (Middletown, Conn.), and Eiden won in 1:31.48, the 14th-fastest race in school history. Eiden had a second individual win in the 200 free, timing 1:41.21, and Montes de Oca took the 100 back in 51.26. Also in that backstroke event, freshman
Lee Bradley (Crestwood, Ky.) took second in 51.32 seconds, improving to 16th all-time among Tribe athletes.
Senior
Josh Zimmt (Barrington, R.I.) was first to the wall in the 100 breast, stopping the clock in 59.89 seconds, and his classmate Henderson won the 200 back in 1:50.46. Sophomore
Brooks Peterson (Carrollton, Va.) was the victor in the 200 breast with a time of 2:08 flat, and Kale finished out his day with a second win, taking the 500 free laurels in 4:39.67.
With the regular season now complete, the Tribe turns its attention to the year-end meets. Next weekend, select members of the team will compete at the Carolina Invitational, co-hosted by North Carolina and Duke, while the majority of the roster trains for the CAA Championships at the end of February.
