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The University of Maine men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams both suffered losses this weekend against Boston College in a two-day meet spanning Friday and Saturday. The women fell 181-144 and the men 184-136.
Despite the loss, the team gained experience and numerous first-and second-place finishes. Megan Wolters led the women by winning three events, and the men were led by freshman Mike Goede, who swam his way to a victory. Wolters won the 100-yard backstroke, 200-yard freestyle and 200-yard backstroke. Goede was second in the 100-yard backstroke and won the 50-yard free style.
According to head coach Jeff Wren, BC’s pool is “very hard to swim fast times in.”
The team had to adapt to many things during the meet.
The result was a two-day meet that stretched from Friday night through Saturday. After grinding through the long bus ride on Friday, the team had to arrive ready to go, and adapt to a greater number of events. In normal league swim meets 13 out of a possible 20 events are run. However, in this past weekend’s meet, 19 were run.
Coach Jeff Wren remained optimistic after the loss.
“We had a few people swim their lifetime best times, so you have to be happy with that,” Wren said Tuesday before his team began a workout.
Brianna Tibbits, Jessica Pratt and Brock Libby were named swimmers of the meet for the Black Bears, and all three swam personal records in their events. Libby swam 5:25.80 in the 500 yard freestyle, a personal best.
“He really showed some promise,”said Wren, “he was pretty new to it.”
Brianna Tibbits attained her personal best in the 200-yard IM in unusual fashion. Just as she was finishing her sixth length, the lights went out in the pool area, making the swimmers complete their race in the haze of emergency lights. Pratt, a sophomore, swam a season-best in the one-meter dive at Boston, just a day after what to some would have been a taxing experience. On Friday, Pratt scraped her foot against the board in that three-meter dive, losing a large amount of skin. She finished the event, and returned Saturday to take third in the one-meter dive.
Issac Forbes also did well in his diving events. A freshman, Forbes scored 162.45 in the 3-meter dive for a third-place finish and 174.75 in the one-meter dive for a fourth place finish. There is a surprising amount of freshmen and sophomores scoring in a competitive meet like this that show. The future of Black Bear swimming looks bright. Kiki O’Donnell, a freshman, took another second-place for UMaine with a 2:35.44 finish in the 200 breaststroke. Heather Griffin, a sophomore, added to the point total by clocking a time of 57.12 in the 100-yard for a strong second place finish.
The men’s and women’s swim teams take on the University of New Hampshire in Durham on Saturday afternoon.
