Bowdoin college hosted the Maine swim and dive team along with Bates and Colby over the first weekend of December. Although just an exhibition match, both the men and women performed admirably, with the men breaking several Maine records in the process.
It was an incredible day for third-year swimmer Nick Sundquist, who broke two school records, and was a part of the relay team that broke a record stretching all the way back to 1982. Sundquist broke the first record with the 100-yard freestyle, in which he finished in 45.47, breaking his own previous record. His second was in the 100-yard butterfly, finishing with a time of 49.88. This was the end of Sundquist’s individual record breaking performances, but not overall. The 400-yard freestyle, with Sundquist as anchor, finished at 3:07.13, over four seconds ahead of Bates, the second place team. This relay also consisted of fourth-year swimmer Matt England, fourth-year swimmer Shane Kinnon and third-year swimmer Tim Edison. The four swimmers beat their projected time of 3:09.89.
Along with Sundquist’s first place finishes, first-year swimmer Andrew Majeski had a remarkable series of performances. His first individual victory was the 500-yard freestyle, which he completed in 4:45.28. In the 1,650-yard freestyle he finished ahead of second place Bowdoin swimmer by less than a single second in a close race, taking first place with a finish of 16:38.96. Majeski also finished first in the 200-yard freestyle (1:43.75) and the 200-yard butterfly (1:59.11).
Sundquist and England took first and second place in multiple events. The 100-yard backstroke, the 50-yard butterfly and the 100-yard butterfly all saw the Maine swimmers finish with one-two placements.
Second-year swimmer Chloe Adams for the women swim and dive team saw several high-placing performances on the day. She finished second overall in the 200-yard freestyle, less than a second behind first place Bates finisher Logan McGill with a time of 1:55.97. She placed third in the 100-yard freestyle (54.96) and was the anchor on the 200-yard freestyle relay that placed second overall.
First-year swimmer Emma Blackdeer was another crucial competitor for the Maine women. She finished fourth in the 50-yard breaststroke, right after fellow Maine swimmer, third-year swimmer Cece McEachern, who had times of 32.33 and 32.31 respectively. Blackdeer was the second leg of the 200-yard medley relay team that finished second. She swam the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:08.90, exactly one second behind first place finisher Melissa Paione of Bates. She also took second place in the 200-yard backstroke, best again by Paione, but this time only by a margin of .2 seconds.
After break, the Black Bears will look to continue these impressive performances when they travel to Bowdoin once again on Jan. 16.
