Rookies Impress In Weekend Meets

While many students celebrated or bemoaned the beginning of reading period this weekend, the Harvard men’s swimming and diving team (2-0, 2-0 Ivy) was on the road taking on unfamiliar foes.

The Crimson took nine swimmers to the AT&T Winter National Championships in Atlanta, Ga., where the squad faced tough competition from the nation’s elite club swimmers. Harvard turned in some inspired individual performances on the big stage, marking an impressive weekend.

Meanwhile, the divers headed to Austin for the Texas Invitational, eventually putting three divers in the one-meter finals and two in the three-meter finals.

AT&T WINTER NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

With Olympians competing in the events, the Crimson knew it was in for a challenge when it traveled to Georgia for the AT&T Winter National Championships.

The Harvard swimmers were racing unattached to a college or club this weekend, which allowed them to race against world-record holders and Olympians and gain valuable experience in long-course meets, according to sophomore Spenser Goodman.

“We came in there in a different point of our season than a lot of other teams there, and we got a lot of incredible swims from our guys,” freshman Michael Gaudiani said.

And after achieving early Ivy success with wins against Dartmouth and Cornell, the Crimson was looking at the weekend as a chance to gauge its training to date.

“It’s great for our team to see some competition outside the Ivy League, with bigger teams and programs, and see how we stack up against them,” Gaudiani said.

Despite the tougher competition, many Harvard swimmers managed to make a splash, as a handful of underclassmen displayed their talent.

Freshman Chuck Katis placed 50th overall with his performance in the 200-meter individual medley. Despite racing slower than his previous time at the UNC Invite, the Falls Church, Va. native outraced the rest of his teammates. The rookie also led the way for his teammates in the 200-meter breaststroke, capping off an impressive weekend.

Freshman Kyle McIntee posted a time of 4:01.36 in the preliminaries of the 400-meter freestyle to enter the C finals, where he placed 10th. His time was just above that of Goodman, who placed 42nd overall.

Junior Greg Roop set the tempo for the Crimson in the 1,500-meter freestyle, where he notched a time of 16:20.40. Following just behind him were freshmen Reed Snyder and Gaudiani, with times of 16:28.23 and 16:47.79, respectively.

And despite the added stress that looming finals bring, Gaudiani believes his team reaped the benefits of cross-country travel this weekend.

“We were swimming against the top-10 teams in the countries … and just being at the national level and seeing all the Olympians is a really great motivator,” he said.

TEXAS INVITATIONAL

With teams from all over the country competing, including No. 2 Texas, the Harvard divers battled to put three competitors in the one-meter finals and two divers in the three-meter finals.

“It was definitely a good experience getting outside the Ivy League,” junior Michael Stanton said. “The caliber of diving out there was very high, and it was a competitive atmosphere.”

Stanton took fourth in the prelinaries of the one-meter dive with a score of 298.20. Sophomore Joe Zarrella and freshman George Doran followed him, placing seventh and eighth, respectively.

But in the finals, Doran overtook his two teammates, putting up a score of 290.35 to place fifth overall. Zarrella and Stanton tied for seventh with 273.65.

In the three-meter preliminaries, Zarrella, who reached the finals with Stanton, led the Crimson with a score of 313.50. In the finals, Zarrella improved on his preliminary score, notching a 330.40, good for fifth place.

Now halfway through its competitive season, Harvard is hoping to continue posting strong performances as it heads into winter training in January.

“Right now we are just trying to stay consistent and continue training … and make sure we are on top of our game in the pool,” Stanton said.

In addition to acknowledging the strength of the diving team this season, Stanton also pointed out the rookies’ impact on the swimming side.

“Our freshman class has been killing it,” Stanton said. “With this class, we are all pretty confident we are going to have a good season.”