Aaron Schafer, Photo Editor
The UR swimming and diving teams opened their season with the UR Invitational last Friday and Saturday at the Speegle-Wilbraham Aquatic Center. Both the men’s and women’s teams bested University Athletic Association rival Brandeis University but fell short to New York University and the Division I Canisius College.
“I think the meet went really well,” junior Lauren Bailey said. “We have a great group of freshmen, and our presence on deck is very prominent.”
Bailey was the only female individual winner on the first day of competition. She won the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:13.84. Among the men, freshman Kasey Kwong won the same event with a time of 1:58.27.
Among strong finishers on day one were freshman Jennifer Enos, who finished third in the mile freestyle event, and sophomore Dylan Sharkey, who placed third with a time of 2:01.65 in the 200-yard individual medley.
On the second day of competition, Bailey claimed three more individual victories, the only three individual wins of the day for the UR women.
The first victory came in the 200-yard freestyle event, where Bailey clocked in with a time of 1:57.55. She then went on to sweep both butterfly events, finishing with a time of 58.73 and 2:12.92 in the 100-yard and 200-yard, respectively.
The men’s team also only had one winner on day two. Junior James Frauen claimed the victory in the 100-yard backstroke event with a time of 53.93. Frauen also finished strong in the 200-yard backstroke with a third place finish.
Kwong, competing in his first collegiate event, put up another day of impressive swims, earning second place in the 100-yard breast, third in the 200-yard breast, and fourth in 400-yard individual medley.
Just as he did the previous day, Sharkey again earned a third-place finish, this time in the 200-yard freestyle.
Another standout performer for the ‘Jackets was junior Chris Doser, who had the closest swim of the night in the 100-yard freestyle. This race ended as a tie for second place between Doser and NYU’s Max Phillips, each earning a time of 48.09. Doser also placed third in the 50-yard free with a time of 21.81.
Final scores for the invitational were calculated as if it was a dual meet between each of the individual teams. The women’s team beat Brandeis 310-34 but fell short to NYU and Canisius, 151-219 and 147.5-220.5, respectively. The men’s team also had a big win over Brandeis with a score of 267-75 but were bested by NYU 130.5-237.5 and Canisius 264-104.
“I am excited to see where the season goes and to see everyone’s times improve,” Bailey said. “We are off to a great start, and I expect for things to just keep getting better.”
The swimming teams will compete again next Saturday at 1 p.m against Hartwick College in Oneonta, N.Y.
Cozen is a member of the class of 2015.
