No. 8 women’s and No. 9 men’s Swimming & Diving teams won the NYU Fall Invitational at the Palladium Athletic Facility on Friday, Nov. 4, and Saturday, Nov. 5. 

In the team’s first meet of the season, the Violets capitalized on home pool advantage versus the unranked swimmers of Stevens Institute of Technology and Drew University. Drew University only sent two divers. 

The women’s team placed first and amassed 551 points — over 65 points more than Stevens’ 219 points and Drew University’s 266 points combined. The men’s team also came in first and garnered 546 points, which was 30 points more than Stevens Institute of Technology’s 251 points and Drew University’s 253 points combined.

For the women’s swimmers, the team saw victories across all the distances and grades. 

In the short distance, first-year Kaley McIntyre won the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 24.09 seconds.

Two Violet swimmers finished with less than a second behind each other in the 200-yard butterfly. Sophomore Caitlin Marshall won with a time of 2:04, following behind by first-year Nicole Ranile in her first NYU race. Junior Candice Saxod won the 200-yard medley with a time of 2:09.

“Individually, I’m pretty happy with my times at this point in the season,” Ranile said. “As a team, we were really strong and pushed each other during our races. I am looking forward to just keep working hard at practice and getting closer to my best times before our mid-season and championship meets.”

For the longer distance, sophomore Georgia Basil won the 1650 freestyle with a time of 17:58.

Among the men’s swimmers in the short distance, sophomore Ajay Watanakun won the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 20:78. Additionally, two other sophomores won the 200-yard freestyle and medley: Nathaniel Yeoh with a time of 1:40 and Jaeden-Hans Yburan with a time of 1:55, respectively.

For the 500-yard freestyle, senior Thomas Pritchard finished with a time of 4:39, beating out sophomore Connor Vincnent by less than .35 seconds. On the same day, Vincent also won the 1650-yard freestyle with a time of 16:09.

First-year swimmer Stuart Zhu said the NYU Fall Invitational was a training meet, in which the swimmers were able to realize when they feel tired and unsuited for future races.

“Our team as a whole performed really well given how hard we have been working in the pool and the weight room,” Zhu said.

Zhu wasn’t fully satisfied with his performance in the 200-yard medley and 100-yard breaststroke, but understood that a training meet means prioritizing race experience over times.

“Moving forward, I hope to get stronger and gain more power in my stroke,” Zhu said. “I believe the back half speed will come naturally once we are more rested.”

For the women’s divers, first-year Meera Kasturi and sophomore Issara Schmidt finished with NCAA Regional qualifying scores, winning respectively 266.03 points for the one meter and 279.98 points for the three meter. 

Following Kasturi in the one meter was second place senior Katherine Nardone, who scored 260.85, and third place Schmidt, who scored 245.25. Behind Schmidt in the three meter was Katsuri with 256.8 points, and then senior Nardone with 248.93.

For the men’s divers, senior Hunter Whitbeck finished with an NCAA Regional qualifying score in the one meter with 289.05 points. 

Following Whitbeck in the one meter was second place junior Sahil Das, who scored 269.18 points, and third place senior Jack Callaghan, who scored 265.58 points. 

Whitbeck also won the three meter with 280.43 points, with Callaghan trailing behind in second with 273.83 and first-year Makai Harder finishing third with 228.3 points. 

The next swim meet for the Violets will be at home against Johns Hopkins University at the Palladium Athletic Facility on Nov. 19. The divers also look forward to the Carnegie Mellon Diving Invitational on Nov. 18 and Nov. 19 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.   

Contact Ethan Rendon at [email protected].