(By Justin Kopp ’25, associate editor)
LVC’s men and women’s swim teams wrapped up the last tri-meet before winter break at the Wyoming Valley Catholic Youth Center in Wilkes-Barre on Saturday, Nov. 2.
The lady Dutchmen took wins over both Wilkes University (150-59) and Goucher College (120.5-106.5) while the men’s team was only defeated by Wilkes University with a final score of 125-98, and it won against Goucher College 146-69.
Many Dutchmen placed highly during the meet. First-year students Marina Weidman and Owen Fastrich placed first in the 1000-yard freestyle for the women and men’s teams respectively.
Lily McNutt and Weidman both qualified for MACs in the 200-yard breaststroke after finishing second and third in the event.
Fastrich also qualified for MACs in and won the 500-yard freestyle later in the day with a time of 5:23:52. The computer science major has had a promising start to his first season at LVC, and he is on track to break the pool record for the 800-meter freestyle before he graduates.
The sprinters of the team also came through with strong placements. LVC’s women’s team took first and second in multiple events at the meet such as the 50-yard freestyle, 50-yard butterfly and 50-yard backstroke.
Graduate student Sierra Young won both the 50-yard backstroke and the 50-yard butterfly, and she swam alongside senior Jordyn Grossman to take second and first place in the 50-yard freestyle respectively.
Grossman also won the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 59.11, and during her junior season, Grossman became the first LVC swimmer to medal at MACs since 2016.
Oftentimes, one of the biggest challenges for Grossman is her own expectations.
“I don’t usually feel a ton of pressure before my races,” she said, “but if I do, it’s usually pressure that I put on myself.”
Grossman closed out the day in the 400-yard freestyle relay with Young, Weidman and Rachel King to place first in the event as a team. The men’s 400-yard freestyle relay also placed first and consisted of Roman Schelhorn, Joseph Beidler, Connor Hirons and Jacob Herald. The Dutchmen will swim their final meet of the semester against King’s College at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 15 at King’s College.