Exciting week for Brandeis swimming and diving
WALTHAM, Mass. - The Brandeis swimming and diving team has had an exciting week. The Judges won three of their four dual meets, sweeping Babson College on Nov. 12 and splitting with Division II cross-town rival Bentley University on Nov. 17. In the interim, the Judges hosted their annual alumni meet to great success, while the men received votes in the College Swim Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) national poll for the first time in program history.
In the pool in their dual meets, coach Jim Zotz's charges went 3-1. Against Babson on the men's side, the Judges edged the Beavers, 119-114. Junior Aaron Bennett (Setauket, N.Y./Ward Melville) and sophomore Marc Eder (Princeton, N.J./Lawrenceville) were multiple winners. Bennett claimed victory in the 200-yard butterfly and the 500-yard freestyle, while Eder was victorious in the 200-yard breaststroke and the 200 individual medley. The Judges also had a couple of unsung heroes in senior Alexander Cemaj (Omaha, Neb./Westside) and rookie Aaron Lefland (North Haven, Conn./North Haven). Cemaj won the 1,000 freestyle and came in second in the 500but also claimed three points with a third-place finish in the one-meter diving competition (169.90), while Lefland's third-place finish in the 200 breast with a time of 2:32.20 earned a key three points in the meet's final individual race.
The women won more handily against Babson, 137-107. Sophomore Angela Chui (Toms River, N.J./Peddie School) extended her winning streak in dual meets to 33 in a row by taking first place in the 200-yard IM, the 100 free and the 200 backstroke. Also turning in multiple wins for the Judges were senior Hollis Viray (Glastonbury, Conn./Glastonbury), who won the 200 and 500 freestyle races; senior Siobhan Lyons (Leominster, Mass./Notre Dame Acad.), who showed her versatility by winning the 1,000 freestyle and the 200 butterfly; and junior Dana Simms (Rockville, Md./Walter Johnson) who took the one- and three-meter diving events. Senior Dasha Hentoff (Natick, Mass./New Jewish High School) had a key second-place finish in the 200-yard butterfly as well.
On Saturday, Nov. 14, the Judges held their annual alumni meet over
at Bentley. More than 40 graduates returned for the event, ranging
from the inaugural teams of 1973-74 to team All-Americans from the
1980s, '90s and '00s. Among the highlights of the meet were races
between Matt Christian '05 and Marc Eder '12, who broke many of
Christian's school records. Following the meet, the team had a
successful silent auction to help fundraise money for an upgrade of
the pool facility.
In the first CSCAA poll of the season, released on Tuesday, the Brandeis men received votes for the first time in program history. With three points, the squad ranked 48th among all Division III schools. The ranking comes on the strength of 10 individual performances among the top 50 in the nation this season. Three Judges were also honored by the CSCAA last year as All-Academic selections. Eder was a first-team All-Academic honoree, while Chui and Viray were honorable mentions.
Also on Nov. 17, the Judges swam against Bentley University, with the men taking a 131-99 decision to improve to 4-1 on the season, while the women fell to 2-3 with a 136-96 loss. The men won 10 out of the 13 events in the meet, while the women had five victories, although Chui suffered her first collegiate loss in an individual dual meet race, falling the 1,000-yard freestyle, an event not among her usual program.
