Sensational Swims from MET Swimming Championships

Photo Courtesy: Kyle Staggs

By Seren Jones, Swimming World College Intern

The swimmers of the Metropolitan Conference wrapped up their season with a sensational splash at Rutgers University on Feb. 20-22. With a handful of NCAA qualifiers and lifetime bests posted across the board, the 2015 conference meet was certainly one of the fastest recorded in the MET swimming history.

LIU Post succeeded in claiming their third conference championship title under head coach Maureen Travers. The women’s team of 14, who have no divers, led the meet from day one and continued to perform strong swims as the three day meet progressed, finishing with a grand total of 1235 points.

The Pioneers grabbed gold in all of the relay events, with the exception of the 800 freestyle relay. Overall, the Pioneers had seven NCAA qualifiers. Senior Johanna Pettersson was bestowed the 2015 Joe Stetz Award for the Most Outstanding Female Swimmer, while Travers was named the 2015 Dick Krempicki Women’s Coach of the Year. Travers and the NCAA team will be travelling to Indianapolis, IN for the NCAA Championships in two weeks.

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Photo Courtesy: Kirsty Elliott

The College of New Jersey men’s swimming and diving team captured its ninth consecutive title at the meet. The Lions finished the three-day meet with a tally of 1404 points, ahead of second place Rowan University (1286), and third place University of Bridgeport (1224.5).

The Lion’s victory marked their 18th MET Championship win in program history. All of the wins were performed under head coach Brian Bishop who started the program in 1989-90. Bishop was also named the 2015 MET Coach of the Meet. The Lions await confirmation of their NCAA qualifiers and intend on heading to Shenandoah, TX for NCAAs from March 18 – 21.

How the “5 Can’t Miss Races” panned out:

1. Women’s 200 Butterfly

As expected, Kwok returned to the championship and defended her title in one of the toughest events in the sport. After clocking a 1:59.52 in the final, Kwok enters the NCAA Championship seeded second, behind Hannah Peiffer (1:58.32) from Queens (NC).

2. Men’s 200 Free Relay

This was definitely one of the most exciting events of the meet, as the Bridgeport Knights and TCNJ Lions kept their tradition of battling it out for first place. The race consisted of a loud noise, white water, and a whole lot of fast swimming. Who came away victorious? The teams touched the wall simultaneously with a time of 1:21.30 and gained their NCAA B-cuts in a tie.

3. Women’s 1650

Bridgeport’s Annagrazia Bonsanti dominated the mile from the very start. The Venezuelan destroyed the field as soon as she went out in a 26.91 in the first 50 yards. Her final time of 17:09.69 didn’t see her breaking the 17-minute mark, but contributed to her earning the Rookie of the Year Award, as well as the women’s second place overall finish. Bonsati also took gold in the 500 freestyle (5:09.48) and the 200 freestyle (1:52.10).

4. Men’s 50 Free

The fastest men of the meet certainly put on a show in the splash and dash. Not only did Bridgeport’s Ruben Diaz edge out the number one seed Jesse Novak (a sophomore from Rowan University), but he won the event in an NCAA A-cut time setting a new Metropolitan Conference record (19.86). Gimenez enters the NCAA Championship seeded second in the event.

5. Women’s 800 Free Relay

This was by far the most exciting relay on the women’s side, as the Bridgeport Knights and LIU Post Pioneers were racing neck and neck for the entire 32 laps. The anchor leg was between two incredible talents, Bridgeport’s Tatiana Shepel and LIU Post’s Joyce Kwok. Despite both girls showing extreme determination to touch the wall first, the Bridgeport Knights claimed their first relay event in a time of 7:32.04, edging out their opponent by only 0.3.

Members of TCNJ men’s team, LIU Post women’s team, and other individuals such as Gimenez and Shepel, are already back in the pool training hard for the last time this season in preparation for the NCAA Championship.

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