By Pat Tintle
Staff Writer
Racing in their first meet since coming off of winter break, the men’s swimming team traveled to Binghamton on January 18 for a head-to-head matchup against the Bearcats.
The Bonnies’ winter break included strenuous training from mid-December into early January. Going into Binghamton, the team was ready to put themselves to the test, according to senior Jimmy Martin.
“We expected to have a very competitive meet with Binghamton going into it,” Martin said. “This was our first meet over the course of a month of intense training, so a mixed bag of results was expected. This meet always holds the additional challenge of being able to compete at a high level after being broken down from the vigorous training up to this point.”
However, the Bonnies showed up ready to compete. The team took nine out of 14 first-place finishes, including Martin’s victory in the 200-yard freestyle.
“I thought it was a solid performance for this time of the season,” Martin said. “I’m still working on refining some technical areas and tightening up some weaknesses in my races, but I was happy with how it turned out.”
Martin’s win put the rest of the team in good position for the remainder of the meet, according to Head Coach Sean McNamee.
“(He) really pressed,” McNamee said. “That gave us the opportunity to have a shot at pulling it off and everybody rallied around. We were able to get out of there with a win.”
The team’s other first place finishes included sophomore Gregg Byrne in the 1000-yard freestyle, junior Matt Rochna in the 200-yard butterfly, senior David Paccapaniccia in the 50-yard freestyle, sophomore Viacheslav Shchukin for the 100-yard freestyle, freshman Michael White in the 500-yard freestyle, senior Mike Burud in the 100-yard butterfly and junior Ripley Danner in both the 400-yard freestyle and the 200-yard individual medley.
However, the Bonnies were not expecting to be so dominant over the Bearcats, Byrne said.
“I definitely didn’t expect to win,” Byrne said. “I had no clue how I would do. I knew that if I could get ahead in the beginning, due to all the training, I would be able to hold my pace and finish fast.”
One of the strong points for the Bonnies is their sense of focus once a meet begins. The team does not quit, even when losing, until the job is finished and victory has been achieved, Byrne said.
“The score was extremely close the whole meet,” Byrne said. “At one point, we were winning, then losing, then we ended up winning. But the whole time, no one let the score get to their heads. I think in the long run, the meet will help us mentally because it shows you to never give up, even if you’re behind.”
The Bonnies battled Buffalo at their final home meet on Wednesday but lost 171-129, dropping eight of 14 events.
tintleph11@bonaventure.edu
