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Volume CXXXIII, Number 12 |
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Swimmers end year with new records
MELISSA PERRIN
STAFF WRITER
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| A Bowdoin swimmer pushes for the finish. Despite the women’s 1-3 record, they have had several outstanding performances, including first-year Katie Chapman’s two college records. (Hans Law, Bowdoin Orient) |
The Polar Bears finished the fall semester in fine fashion, competing against Bates on December 5. Katie Chapman '07 set two college records and the men's team pulled off its first victory against Bates in coach Brad Burnham's four year tenure, with a score of 126-102, at Greason Pool.
In only her second college meet, Chapman broke 20 -year-old records in the 100-yard freestyle and the 200-yard Individual Medley, both of which were set by recent Hall of Honor inductee Lissa McGrath '83. In the 200 IM, she smashed the previous mark of 2:10.95 by more than a second and improved on her time from the previous meet by three seconds with her 2:09.70 swim. Then, one event later, she broke the 100 free record, previously 54.21, with a time of 54.07.
Megan McLean '07 also swept her events, winning the 1000-, 500- and 200-yard freestyle. She won the 1000 -free by almost 35 seconds in 11:05.73 and came right back in the next event to win the 200-free with a time of 2:00.10. She also won the 500-freestyle by eleven seconds.
"I really wanted a good time in the 1000, so I put a lot of effort into that," said McLean. "It was mentally challenging to switch gears and swim the 200, and [Bates's Nicole Sparks] put up a good fight, but as always, it was fun."
Other victories for the Bowdoin women included Nicole Goyette '05 in the 100-yard backstroke, and the 200-yard freestyle relay team of Goyette, Aubrey Sharman '06, Erin Turban '06, and Beth Colombo '07. Unfortunately, in spite of some great swims, the Bowdoin women lost a close meet, 131-112.
The Bowdoin men jumped out to an early lead by winning the 400-yard Medley Relay, and never looked back. Sophomore Roger Burleigh won the 1000-free in 10:27.70 and classmate Edgar Pabon came in third. Then Burleigh came back and won the 200-free with a time of 1:51.41. Ian Kyle '06 came in second, and Mike Sighinolfi '07 touched out Bates's top swimmer to sweep the 200-free, opening up a significant lead for the Polar Bears.
Jason Lewis '06 won the 100-free in 50.58, before touching out Bates's Charles Swanson in a hard-fought 500-free. Max Goldstein '07 earned first place points in both the 100 yard breaststroke (1:03.78) and the 200 IM (2:01.46). Captain Mike Long '04 continued his winning ways in the 50 free, swimming to a time of 22.08, with Jeff Pike '04 and Carter Thomas '06 close behind in third and fourth places, respectively.
After two weeks of intense training at Bowdoin and in Puerto Rico, the teams returned to action on January 17 against Williams. Both teams had some strong swims in a losing effort, 175-113 for the men and 185-111 for the women's team.
Burleigh continued his dominance in the butterfly events, winning both the 100- and 200-yard fly with times of 54.61 and 1:56.13 respectively, and Long swept the sprint freestyle events, taking the 50 free in 21.77 and the 100 free in 49.30. Captain Brian McGregor '04 swept the diving events, scoring 222.23 on the 1-meter board and 214.95 on the 3-meter board, to finish his career undefeated against Williams. In a close race, Goldstein touched out Williams's top finisher for a victory in the 100-yard breaststroke, winning by only .03.
On the women's side, Chapman continued her winning ways in the 200-yard freestyle, with a near record-breaking time of 1:56.13, the 100-yard butterfly (1:00.10), and 400-yard Individual Medley (4:38.30). McLean also prevailed in the 1000-yard freestyle and swam to a victory in the season's first 200-yard butterfly (2:14.44).
"The training camp in Puerto Rico was a truly great experience all around. The weather was perfect, the training exactly what we needed and the attitude of the team was tremendous," said Burnham. "We saw many great individual efforts during the Williams meet and I expect they were only the beginning of a very successful championship season."
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