Division III Swim Meet of the Week: Williams, Tufts, Amherst to Do Battle at NESCAC Championships

Jackson Karofsky. Photo Courtesy: Williams College Athletics

Division III Swim Meet of the Week

Defending NESCAC Champion Williams will attempt to win its 18th NESCAC title in 20 years when the 2020 NESCAC Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships begin on Thursday, February 20 with the finals of the 800 freestyle relay at the Ephs’ Samuelson-Muir Pool. Heading into the 2020 NESCAC Championship, 13 champions return to compete at this year’s championship.

Competition on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday begins with preliminary heats at 10 a.m. Finals are scheduled for 6 p.m. on Friday, 5:50 p.m. on Saturday, and 5:30 p.m. on Sunday.

FREESTYLE

Tufts senior Roger Gu (Ashland, Mass.) returns to defend his title in the 50 and 100 freestyle events. Gu is the NESCAC record holder in both events and set new meet records in both races last year. Gu enters the 50 freestyle as the top seed (19.71) as he goes for his third straight title. Amherst sophomore Scott Romeyn (Durham, Conn.), last year’s runner-up and the 2019 NESCAC Rookie of the Year, is seeded second (20.50), and Tufts first-year Peter LaBarge (Indianapolis, Ind.) owns the third-fastest time this season (20.68). Tufts senior Costa Camerano (Brookville, N.Y.) was third in 2019 and is also in the field. Gu leads the field in the 100 freestyle with a time of 43.97 this season. He is followed by Romeyn (45.38) and Connecticut College junior Charlie Adl (New Canaan, Conn.) (45.94).

Williams swimmers won the other four freestyle races in 2019. Junior Jamie Lovette (Ithaca, N.Y.) is the defending champion at the 200 and 500-yard distances. He set a NESCAC meet record in the 200 freestyle last season and is the top seed with a time of 1:40.71. Tufts sophomore Victor Vollbrechthausen (Westfield, N.J.) (1:41.17) and Adl (1:41.53) are ranked 2-3. Lovette owns the second-best time in the 500-yard race (4:36.29), behind Tufts junior John Lalime (Vero Beach, Fla.) (4:35.15). A pair of Ephs, junior Jackson Karofsky (Tenafly, N.J.) and senior Andrew Trunsky (Birmingham, Mich.) finished second and third last year and will compete in the event this season.

Trunsky is seeded third (9:41.57) as he attempts the four-year sweep of the 1000 freestyle. Lalime has the fastest time this year (9:25.57), followed by last year’s runner-up, Jared Nussbaum (Ridgefield, Conn.), a junior from Connecticut College. The Ephs have dominated the 1650 freestyle over the last three years. Karofsky is the defending champion, Lovette claimed the title in 2018, and Trunsky won the event in 2017. All three swimmers have a top-five time this year. Lalime leads all swimmers with a time of 9:25.57 and is followed by Lovette (9:38.36) and Nussbaum (9:40.62).

BACKSTROKE

Tufts’ Kingsley Bowen, the 2019 NESCAC Swimmer of the Year and 4-Year High Point Swimmer has graduated, creating an opportunity for a new champion to be crowned in all three backstroke events. Bates first-year Nathan Berry (Augusta, Maine) is the top seed in the event with a time of 23.13. Tufts sophomore Nate Tingen (Yorba Linda, Calif.) owns a time of 23.25, and Amherst first-year Kevin Ma (Stirling, N.J.) (23.33) rounds out the top three swimmers. Both the runner-up, Bowdoin sophomore Ted Mebust (Cooperstown, N.Y.), and the third-place finisher, Williams sophomore Nick Whitcomb (Northampton, Mass.), from a year ago return to race this season. In the 100 backstroke, Tufts first-year Joshua Balbi (Lake Worth, Fla.) is the only swimmer to post a time under 50 seconds (49.84) this season and is the top seed. Tingen is ranked second (50.15) and Amherst senior Craig Smith (Chicago, Ill.), last year’s runner-up, is third (50.65). Whitcomb also placed third in the 100 backstroke in 2019 and will compete in the event again this year. In the 200 backstroke, Smith owns the fastest time this season at 1:50.02. He was the runner-up in the event last year. Tingen is seeded second (1:51.07) and Williams sophomore Paul Leclerc (Los Angeles, Calif.), the third-place finisher last year, is third (1:51.76).

BREASTSTROKE

Amherst senior Sean Mebust (Cooperstown, N.Y.) returns for his final NESCAC Championship meet and is the defending champion in the 50 and 200 breaststroke events. He finished as the runner-up at the 100-yard distance last season. Mebust leads the field in the 50 breaststroke with a time of 26.10. Bates senior Matt Charest (Lewiston, Maine), the third-place finisher a year ago, is scheduled to compete in the event. There will be a new champion in the 100 breaststroke. Mebust has the second-fastest time this season (56.35), behind Tufts sophomore Tar Tar Jarusinchai (Nonthaburi, Thailand) (56.28). Mebust will attempt to complete a four-year sweep in the 200 breaststroke, as he enters the meet with the fastest time this season at 2:03.93.

BUTTERFLY

All three champions in the butterfly events from 2019 return. Amherst senior Jack Koravos (Westford, Mass.) has been the fastest in the pool this season in the 50 butterfly with a time of 22.90 and is the defending NESCAC Champion. Tufts’ Camerano, last year’s runner-up, will compete in the race and Williams sophomore Zeb Hart (Pepper Pike, Ohio), a third-place finisher in 2019, owns the second-best time this season (23.09). Williams junior David Pearcy (Fredericksburgh, Va.) looks to defend his title in the 100 butterfly and has the third-best time this season (50.89). Tufts’ Balbi (49.52) and Koravos (50.54), the 2019 runner-up, are ranked 1-2. Williams senior Lucca Delcompare (Naples, Fla.) will attempt to win the 200 butterfly for the third straight year, as he owns the best time in the event this season at 1:52.14. Tufts senior Trevor Serman (New York, N.Y.) has the second-fastest time (1:52.76) and Pearcy, last year’s runner-up, is seeded third with a time of 1:53.55. Sophomore Sean Tan (Tenafly, N.J.) of Williams, the third-place finisher a year ago, is slated to compete in the event.

INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY

The defending champions in the 200 IM and 400 IM, Jarusinchai of Tufts and Karofsky of Williams return in 2020. Jarusinchai has the fastest time in the 200 this season (1:52.51) and Leclerc of Williams, a third-place finisher in the event last season, is scheduled to compete in the event. Karofsky holds the top time in the 400 (4:07.78), just edging out Connecticut College sophomore Colin Merrill (Glastonbury, Conn.) (4:07.87), last year’s runner-up.

DIVING

A new diving champion will be crowned on both boards at the 2020 championship. Former Bowdoin diver Mitch Ryan, who had won both events over the past two championships, graduated. Kobe Tray (Cheshire, Conn.) of Williams (500.85 points) leads a trio of first-year divers at the top of the leader board in the 1-meter event. Amherst senior Bennett Fagan (Oakton, Va.), the 2019 runner-up, also returns to the field this year. Tray also owns the top mark on the 3-meter board (489.68). Sophomore Tom Amsbry (Pasadena, Calif.) of Amherst was the runner-up in the event last season and Fagan placed third as both Mammoth divers compete in the event.

RELAYS

Tufts won three of the five relay races in 2019. The Jumbos own the top time in the 200 freestyle (1:22.10), ahead of 2019 runner-up Amherst (1:23.24), as they look to defend their title. Amherst is the defending champion in the 400 freestyle and has the second-fastest time this season (3:04.82), behind 2018 champion Tufts (3:03.56), and ahead of 2017 champion, Williams (3:07.30). The Ephs won the 800 freestyle title in 2019 and own the third-best time entering the championship meet (6:53.17). Tufts has posted the fastest time (6:45.25) this season and Amherst has the second-best time in the event (6:51.30). Tufts is the defending champion in the 200 and 400 medley relays carrying the best time of the season into the NESCAC Championship at 1:30.07 and 3:21.13, respectively. Amherst and Williams were the second- and third-place finishers in both events in 2019 and rank 2-3 heading into both events.

— The above press release was posted by Swimming World in conjunction with the NESCAC. For press releases and advertising inquiries please contact Advertising@SwimmingWorld.com.

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