The William & Mary men's swimming team moved one step closer to a major program record on Saturday, rallying to beat Towson on the road, 154-134. The Tribe improved to 2-1 on the year and 1-0 in the Colonial Athletic Association, while the Tigers fell to 2-3, 0-1 in conference play.
W&M has now won 14 dual-meets in a row against CAA opponents, one shy of the program record set between February of 1968 and January of 1975. The current winning streak began on Nov. 2, 2014, with wins over Delaware and UNCW at the CAA Pod Meet that season.
How it Happened
- W&M began the meet, as usual on the road, facing a 26-point deficit due to diving. That proved no problem, as the Tribe won 10 of the 14 swimming events, including both relays.
- First up was the 200 medley relay, where W&M's top team of
Colin Demers (Virginia Beach, Va.),
Devin McNulty (Herndon, Va.),
Jack Doherty (Middletown, Conn.), and
Colin Wright (Williamsburg, Va.) swam the 14th-fastest time in school, winning in 1:30.32.
- In the 1,000 free, senior
Chris Balbo (Short Hills, N.J.) kept his early-season streak going with the first of two wins, stopping the clock in 9:34.57. He would come back later in the meet and win the 500 free as well with a time of 4:38.84.
- Demers was victorious in the 100 back for the third week in a row, swimming 49.88 seconds, and then in the 100 breast, senior
Ian Bidwell (Pelham, N.Y.) won his first race of the season, timing 57.83 seconds.
- Wright continued to cruise in the sprint events, sweeping the 50 free in 20.40 and the 100 free in 45.18 seconds, to match Balbo with five individual wins in the first three meets.
- In the 100 fly, the senior Doherty kept a 3-for-3 streak of his own going, winning in a dual-meet record time of 49.00 seconds. He has broken the Tribe's dual-meet mark in all three meets so far this season, revising the record a total of 0.62 seconds from where it stood on Oct. 1.
- The final individual win went to
Ben Skopic (Marriottsville, Md.) in the 200 IM, touching the wall in 1:52.04.
- W&M also won the 400 free relay in the fastest time of the season for any CAA team, with the team of
Ian Thompson (Alexandria, Va.), Wright,
Graham Hertweck (Greensboro, N.C.), and Doherty combining to swim 3:02.89.
Up Next
William & Mary will have a chance to break the program record for consecutive conference wins next weekend, Nov. 2-3, at the CAA Pod Meet in Harrisonburg, Va. The Tribe will take on both UNCW and Delaware, with action beginning at 10 a.m. both days in James Madison's pool.
