The Bowdoin Orient

February 2, 2001
Volume CXXXII, Number 14

White Mules swim past men, women at Colby

by LAUREN MCNALLY, STAFF WRITER

   Last Saturday, the University of Maine at Waterville met Bowdoin at the Leroy Greason pool for their annual duel meet. Although both men's and women's teams lost to the White Mules, they demonstrated outstanding sportsmanship and continued to improve drastically.
   The men's meet began with a 1-2 finish in the 200 yard medley relay. The first place team was composed of Andrew D. Shaw '02, Nicholas Driskill '02, Dean Anson '03, and Elliot Dickson '02, in a time of 1:41.09.
   Following closely behind in second was the 'B' team, with Matthew Hammond '02, Michael Alan Long '04, Henry Bangert '01, and William B. Thomas '03, in a time of 1:44.60. Matthew Byrne '02 scored a second place finish in the 1000 yard freestyle in 11:31.80, with John David Clifford V '02 following in fourth (12:25.54).
   Captain Andy Shaw said, "I think Colby beat us because they have a bigger team and more depth; but in all the races, we consistently swam better than they did."
   In the 200 yard freestyle Dave Harden '03 and Thomas were third and fourth, respectively, with times of 1:55.87 and 1:59.29. Teammate Josh Kingsbury '03 also placed sixth in the 200 free with a time of 2:11.83.
   Shaw won both backstroke events; swimming the 100 in 0:58.46 seconds and the 200 in 2:06.88. Driskill won the 100 yard breastroke in 1:00.00 (that's really hard to do, by the way...getting all zeros), with senior Bangert scoring fourth in 1:08.89.
   Robie Anson put forth a gutsy performance in the 200 yard butterfly (one of the two most awful events to exist in the sport), winning in a time of 2:07.14.
   Three Polar Bears scored in the 50 free, with Mike Long in second (22.61), Elliot Dickson in third (22.75), and Todd Williams in sixth (24.75). Dickson then hopped back in the pool to swim the 100 free, finishing in second with a time of :49.33 seconds.
   Driskill took second in the 200 breastroke in 2:15.40,while Anson and Bangert returned to the butterfly events, taking second and fourth respectively in the 100, with times of :54.34 and 1:00.47.
   Finishing the individual events with the 200 IM, Andy Shaw and Dave Harden took second and fourth, in 2:14.37 and 2:17.38. The last relay was an exciting one; the 'A' team of Mike Long, Elliot Dickson, Will Thomas, and Nick Driskill won the 200 free relay in a sick time of 1:30.75, by only.07 seconds.
   Driskill stated, "I just want to drop below a minute (in the 100m breaststroke)…to reassure myself I can get to nationals again. Hopefully our 200 medley relay will make it to nationals; we have a really good change. I don't think we've lost yet this season."
   The women's team also showed immense improvement in their events. The 'A' and 'B' 200 medley relay teams scored second and third with times of 1:59.49 and 2:00.98. Swimming for the 'A' team were captain Catherine Williams '01, Liz Buell '02, Jenny Mendelson '01, and Anna Podore '03.
   Swimming for the 'B' team were Lauren McNally '03, Allison Benton '03, Kiele Mauricio '04, and Kara Podkaminer '03. Team distance continued to drop time in the 1000 yard freestyle, with Mauricio finishing third in a time of 12:09.98 and Annie Blair close behind in fourth with a time of 12:13.32.
   Podkaminer won the 200 freestyle in 2:05.98, while Williams and McNally went 1-2 in the 100 backstroke with respective times of 1:03.61 and 1:05.12. Bowdoin took third, fourth, and fifth places in the 50 freestyle, with Podore finishing in 26.54 seconds, Gillian Stevens '04 in 26.83 seconds, and Mendelson in 27.04 seconds. Podkaminer continued to show her dominance in the sprint freestyle events with a second place finish in the 100 freestyle, 57.58 seconds.
   Williams and McNally went 2-3 in the 200 backstroke, in 2:18.23 and 2:23.38. The Bears picked up some points with the 200 breastroke; Allison Benton claimed third in 2:45.38, Jenn Scangos '04 was fourth in 2:46.74, and Sarah Hoenig '02 followed up with sixth in 2:54.27. Three swimmers also gained points in the 100 butterfly with Audrey Gray '02 in third with 1:09.95, Amy Tow '04 in fourth with 1:10.49, and Meghan Gregory '01 in sixth with 1:15.71. The 200 IM was the last individual event, with McNally placing second in 2:24.88 and Alex DeRubira '04 placing fifth in 2:40.00. The women wrapped up their meet with second and third place finishes in the 200 free relay. The 'A' team, with Williams, Podkaminer, Podore and Mendelson, swam a time of 1:45.78, and the 'B' team (Buell, Blair, Gray and Stevens) swam a 1:53.47.
   The team hosts the final meet of the season here at home on Saturday against Trinity and Wesleyan, starting at 11 a.m. Come out to the field house and show your support for the Bowdoin swim team in their last seasonal meet!

The swimming and diving team had it tough this week. (Colin LeCroy/Bowdoin Orient)