LANCASTER, Pa.—Swarthmore College Men's Swimming raced into first place in the first day of the 2017 Centennial Conference Championships with 226 points. The Garnet hold a 39-point advantage over the second place team, Gettysburg College. Highlights in day one for the Garnet included gold medal finishes in the 400-yard medley relay, the 200-yard IM and the 200-yard freestyle relay.
The 200 free relay, the first event of Friday night's finals finished in an even tie for first between Swarthmore and Gettysburg in 1:22.99. The Garnet trailed going into the final lap, but Jeffrey Tse recovered ground with a time of 20.43 in the final 50 yards, the fastest split of the finals.
Tse claimed gold in the 200 IM with a time of 1:51.73, an NCAA B Cut time and Swarthmore record. Teammates Liam Fitzstevens and Chris Smith joined Tse on the podium as Fitzstevens claimed second place with a time of 1:52.92 and Smith came in fourth with a time of 1:54.54.
The Garnet recorded another B Cut time, and a pool record, in the 400 medley relay with a time of 3:22.19. Tse, Alejandro Hernandez, Steele and Fitzstevens earned 40 points for the Garnet with the win.
Andrew Steele medaled for the Garnet in the 50 free, taking second place with a time of 20.73. His time of 20.69 in the preliminaries qualified for a B Cut and also set a new Swarthmore record. Charles Yang finished in seventh in the 50 free (21.53) to add 12 points to Swarthmore's total.
In the 500 freestyle, Michael Lutzker finished in third place, earning 16 points with a time of 4:36.52. Lutzker's time was a new personal best and Swarthmore best and was nearly eight seconds faster than his time in the same event last season. Stephen Sekula added 12 points in the event with a seventh-place finish (4:44.30).
The Garnet look to hold onto their lead come Saturday. Competition resumes at 10 a.m. and then again at 6 p.m.
NCAA D3 B Cuts
• Jeffrey Tse; 200 IM (1:51.73)
• Jeffrey Tse, Alejandro Hernandez, Andrew Steele, Liam Fitzstevens; 400 Medley Relay (3:22.19)
• Andrew Steele; 50 Free (20.69)
Preliminary Results
Finals Results
