Swim and Dive Goes 3-0 to Open Season

Men

After a successful 2021-22 season, in which they went 6-1 in dual meets and finished third at the NESCAC Championships, Amherst men’s swim and dive opened their 2022-23 season with three straight wins in conference competition. They first won 166-117 over Colby, before topping Wesleyan 175.5-103.5 to open their Little Three season, and defeating Middlebury 192-99 this past weekend.

In their season opener at Colby, junior Tyler Knightly ’24, sophomore transfer Jaden Olson ’25, and first-year Michael Jang ’26 each won two individual events for the Mammoths. Olson was a member of the Mammoths’ first-place ​​200-yard medley relay team and won both the 100-yard backstroke in 51.37 and the 100-yard butterfly in 50.13 as an individual. Knightly won both the 100-yard and 200-yard freestyle races, and Jang won both the 100-yard and 200-yard breaststroke races. Jang was also one of four Amherst first-years who won an event in their collegiate debut; the other three were Jack D'Alessandro ’26 (1000-yard freestyle), Henry LeCates ’26 (200-yard freestyle), and Jonah Luetke ’26 (200-yard backstroke).

Against the Cardinals, the same 200-yard medley relay team took the crown again, with Olson, Liam Loveless ’24, Christian Moy ’23, and Andrew Bernstein ’25 touching first in the event for the second straight meet. Olson moved his individual record to 4-0 with two more wins, this time in the 50-yard backstroke and 50-yard butterfly, and every other member of that medley relay team also won an individual race. Additionally, two Mammoths got their first individual race-wins of the season against Wesleyan: Tor Metelmann ’25 (100-yard breaststroke) and Andrew Yuen ’25 (100-yard backstroke).

In their home-opener against Panthers this past weekend, Olson continued his dominance, winning two individual races to move to 6-0 as an individual, and the 200-yard medley relay won their third straight race, moving to 3-0 on the season. Olson has yet to lose a race at Amherst. Jang again swept the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke races, and LeCates, Bernstein, Yuen, Metelman, Luetke, Knightly, Bernstein, and Gabriele Lunardi ’25 all won individual races as well, with Lunardi getting his first win of the season in the 1000-yard freestyle.

The team will return to action looking to move to 4-0 on the road against Union College on Saturday, Dec. 31.  

Women

Just like their male counterparts, the No. 14 Amherst women’s swim and dive team opened their season 3-0 over the past two weeks, backing up a 2021-22 season in which they also went 6-1 in dual meets and finished third at the NESCAC Championships. They opened their season with a 182-101 win over Colby, before defeating Wesleyan 181.5-113.5 to open their Little Three campaign, and beating Middlebury 184.5-115.5 last weekend.

Against the Mules, senior Jess Gordon ’23, sophomore Ali Lacroix ’25, and first-year Diane Koo ’26 each won two events, with Gordon winning both the 200-yard and 500-yard freestyle, Lacroix taking the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke races, and Koo getting her first two collegiate wins in the 100-yard and 200-yard butterfly events. Four other first-years topped the podium in their collegiate debuts, with Emory Tudor ’26, Alex Zorn ’26, Ally Bradley ’26, and Donna Zhang ’26 also notching their first wins as Mammoths. Sydney Bluestein ’25 and Zhang sealed an Amherst one-two in both diving events: Bluestein won on the one-meter board, while Zhang won on the three-meter board in her first collegiate meet.

A few days later against Wesleyan, four Mammoths won two individual races each, with Grace Tarantola ’23 (50-yard and 100-yard backstroke), Lacroix (50-yard and 100-yard breaststroke), Zorn (50-yard and 100-yard freestyle) and Bluestein (one- and three-meter board) winning multiple events in Middletown. Tarantola and Lacroix notched a relay win on the weekend, teaming up with Lauren Eng ’24 and Kate Aubrecht ’26 to take the crown in the 200-yard medley relay, continuing Amherst’s early-season dominance in the event. Eng also came out victorious in the 50-yard butterfly, and Koo won for the second straight meet, topping the podium in the 400-yard individual medley.

Finally, in their home opener against Middlebury, the team got their third straight win, with Zorn sweeping the freestyle sprints (50- and 100-yards) with season-best times and swimming on two winning relay teams: the 200-yard medley relay and the 400-yard freestyle relay. The winning 200-yard medley relay team was the same one that took first in their meet against the Cardinals, while Zorn was joined in the freestyle relay by Eng, Gordon, and Jennifer Adams ’25. Adams swept the mid-distance freestyle races, the 200- and 400-yard races, while Bluestein again swept the one- and three-meter diving events. Lacroix notched two individual wins for the second straight meet, while Koo and Bradley also won events for Amherst.

The team will return to action on New Year’s Eve, traveling to take on Union College.