The William & Mary men's swimming team wrapped up the regular season with a day of celebrations Saturday, honoring its nine seniors before the meet and then beating George Washington, 138-67. The Tribe finished the regular season at 8-1 overall, just the seventh time in school history that W&M has finished the year with one or fewer losses, while the Colonials fell to 4-4 on the year.
How it Happened
- As has become customary, W&M torched the record books while torching the scoreboard, breaking the pool and dual-meet records in four of the day's 11 events.
- First up was the 200 medley relay, where the senior quartet of
Colin Demers (Virginia Beach, Va.),
Ian Bidwell (Pelham, N.Y.),
Jack Doherty (Middletown, Conn.), and
Ian Thompson (Alexandria, Va.) combined to swim 1:28.28 to break the pool and dual-meet records set just last week. That was also the eighth-fastest time in school history.
- The next event also saw the record book re-written, as senior
Chris Balbo (Short Hills, N.J.) swam a lifetime-best 9:21.58 to win the 1,000 free. In addition to breaking the pool and dual-meet records of 9:23.66, set two years ago by
Carter Kale '19, that was also the fourth-fastest single race in school history, and lifts Balbo to third all-time among W&M athletes.
- In the 200 free, freshman
John O'Hara (Fredericksburg, Va.) won his first collegiate race, stopping the clock in 1:41.91.
- Next was the 50 free, and
Colin Wright (Williamsburg, Va.) again put on a show, winning the race in an NCAA provisional-qualifying time of 19.90 seconds. That was the 13th-fastest time in school history, and the third time under 20 seconds in a dual meet this season for Wright. Behind him, Thompson took second in 20.55 seconds, and sophomore
Graham Hertweck (Greensboro, N.C.) completed the sweep with a collegiate-best time of 20.67 seconds, improving to a tie for 15th all-time among Tribe athletes.
- In the 200 IM, senior
Ben Skopic (Marriottsville, Md.) won the first of his two golds on the day, breaking both the pool and the dual-meet records with a time of 1:49.85.
- Wright was back in the winner's circle in the 100 free, winning in 44.46 seconds.
- Senior
Lee Bradley (Crestwood, Ky.) won the next event, the 200 back, touching the wall first in a time of 1:50.78.
- Balbo's second win of the day came in the 500 free, where he swam 4:36.53 to finish just two seconds off the pool record.
- Skopic picked up his second win with a time of 2:05.15, finishing first in the 200 breast.
- The final event of the day was the 200 free relay, where the team of Doherty, Wright, Hertweck, and Thompson combined to swim 1:19.71 to break the pool and dual-meet records set back in the season opener in October. That was the fastest time in the CAA this season, and the fifth-fastest race ever at W&M.
- With the win, the W&M achieved an important milestone in program history, improving to 406-405-3 all-time since the 1927-28 season. This is the first time the Tribe has been over .500 all-time since Jan. 30, 1931, when W&M was 8-7 before falling to Virginia that afternoon.
William & Mary now begins training for the post-season. First up is the Virginia Tech Invitational, Feb. 7-9, followed by the Colonial Athletic Association Championships, Feb. 19-22 in Christiansburg, Va. The Tribe men have won each of the last five conference titles.
