The NYU men’s swimming and diving team competed in their inaugural meet of the 2012-2013 season on Saturday. NYU took down the State University of New York at Cortland 184-110 at Palladium Athletic Facility.
Sophomore Jerry Crowley led the Violets on Saturday, reigning supreme in the 100-yard freestyle, 100-yard butterfly and the 200-yard medley relay.
In the 100-yard freestyle, Freshman Ray Oo eclipsed his competitors by nearly two seconds — a fine start to his collegiate career.
In the longest event in both time and distance, senior Dan Isaacson won the 1,000-yard freestyle in just over 10 minutes (10:11.62).
“It is always great to win your first meet to help build confidence going into the season,” Isaacson said. “This victory will give us confidence going forward, and hopefully we will improve each meet from this point on.”
Junior Charlie Wu won both the 100-yard (55.29) and 200-yard backstroke events. Matching his teammates’ feats, junior Aleksandr Koukharevitch won both the 100-yard (1:02.79) and 200-yard (2:20.65) breaststroke events.
In the diving portion of the meet, sophomore Austen Blease, NYU’s 2011-2012 Honorable Mention All-American, won the men’s one-meter and three-meter diving events, scoring 318.90 points and 336.01 points, respectively. Blease’s overall performance exceeded the runner-up’s total by over 40 points in both competitions. In the men’s one-meter and three-meter events, three of the top four finishers were NYU divers.
“I went into this meet knowing what to expect and how to approach the competition,” Blease said. “My goal for this season is to make finals at NCAA Nationals.”
This meet represents the first of a potential 11 meets for the Violets this season. After finishing 5-4 last season, the Violets have taken some positive steps forward so far this year.
Next up for the swimming and diving team is the University of Rochester Invitational to be held Friday, Oct. 25, and Saturday, Oct. 26.
A version of this article appeared in the Monday, Oct. 22 print edition. Nicholas Nemeroff is a contributing writer. Email him at [email protected].