2023 ECAC Championships
- February 24-26, 2023
- Annapolis, Md.
- SCY (25 yards)
- Full Results
Women’s Team Scores — Top 5
- Navy, 546
- Bucknell, 503
- Columbia, 386
- Penn, 328
- Yale, 274
Men’s Team Scores — Top 5
- Navy, 814.5
- Bucknell, 416
- Columbia, 392
- Princeton, 328
- Loyola, 319
Courtesy: ECAC
ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Eastern College Athletic Conference Men’s and Women’s Open Swimming and Diving Championships came to a close on Sunday, with the Naval Academy taking home both the men’s and women’s crowns. The men extended an already big lead to close out the weekend with a total of 814.5 points, while the Navy women retook first place to end the event with 546 points.
Navy men’s coach Warren Turner was named the Men’s Coach of the Meet on Sunday, and the Midshipmen also collected the Men’s Swimmer of the Meet in Warren Turner as well as the Women’s Swimmer of the Meet in Rachel Schlemmer. Dan Schinnerer of Bucknell was named the Women’s Coach of the Meet after the Bison finished 43 points off the team title.
Navy dominated the final day of the three-day event by picking up wins in each of the men’s events they swam in – the 1650 free, 200 back, 100 free, 200 breast, 200 fly and 400 free relay. The Navy men’s team has now won the meet in each of the last nine times it has been held and the Navy women’s team won the title for the fifth time in six years.
The women’s 1650 free was the first event of the day, with Madison Murtagh (16:15.36) of Rutgers setting a meet record en route to the individual title. Navy claimed the top three on the men’s side, with Mitchell Dubey (15:54.24) leading the Midshipmen effort.
Princeton’s Isabella Korbly (1:56.90) came away with the 200 back win, while Navy’s Benjamin Stankovich (1:46.48) followed his big Saturday performance with a win in the same event for the men. Heidi Smithwick (50.41) gave Princeton their second straight event win in the 100 free, and Benjamin Denman-Grimm followed with a meet record time of 44.32 in the finals to add another win to Navy’s total.
Ava Franks (2:12.34) of Yale took home the women’s 200 breaststroke crown after finishing two full seconds ahead of second place, and Matt Murphy (1:57.59) shaved two seconds between prelims and finals to pick up the men’s title. Yale’s Alex Massey (1:57.35) landed atop the podium in the women’s 200 fly, while Evan O’Dea (1:45.82) closed out the men’s individual events with another Navy victory.
The women’s team of Ana Fleming, Syd Paglia, Anna Freyman and Megan McGrath edged out a victory for Navy (3:25.10) in the 400 free relay, while Midshipmen Denman-Grimm, Evan McKelvey, Cohen Bruner and Paul Kinsella teamed up for a meet record time of 2:57.79.
The women’s 50 free was forced to go to a swim-off after Richmond’s Julia Krichev and Fleming each recorded a time of 23.96. Krichev came away with the win, doing so with a time of 23.77 against Fleming’s 24.01.
Courtesy: Navy Sports
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — The Navy swimming and diving teams each earned first-place honors at the ECAC Championship that came to a conclusion Sunday at Lejeune Hall in Annapolis. The men’s team scored 814.5 points to win by just under 400 points and the women accrued 546 points to win the meet by 43 points.
Bucknell placed second in both the men’s (416) and women’s (503) standings.
The Navy men’s team has now won the meet in each of the last nine times it has been held and the Navy women’s team won the title for the fifth time in six years.
“We could not be prouder of the way our team finished out the season,” said Navy men’s swimming head coach Bill Roberts. “From the beginning of the year to the end, they did everything we asked them to strive for. We are so happy for the Class of 2023 to end the year by winning Patriot League and ECAC titles alongside their teammates. It says a lot about their character and resilience. It will be remembered forever in our program.”
“We are incredibly proud of our team’s effort to win the Patriot League and ECAC titles in back-to-back weeks,” said Navy women’s swimming head coach John Morrison. “It takes an amazing amount of dedication and determination throughout the year to accomplish that.
“The ECAC team displayed tremendous character as they persevered through two relay teams being disqualified on Saturday. As a result, they went into Sunday trailing by 30 points, but put on an amazing team performance today capped with a victory in the relay to win the meet.”
Roberts was named the men’s swimming coach of the year, Warren Turner (Sr., Memphis, Tenn.) was named the men’s swimmer of the year and Rachel Schlemmer (Jr., Sterling, Va.) was named the women’s swimmer of the year.
“Rachel had an amazing weekend,” said Morrison. “Injuries limited her training and competition opportunities during the second semester, but she never gave up and put together three impressive races during the championship.”
The Navy teams combined to win seven events on the final day of the meet. Mitch Dubey (Fr., Belchertown, Mass.) won the 1650 freestyle by six seconds with his time of 15:26.32. Benjamin Stankovich (Fr., Dumfries, Va.) posted a time of 1:46.48 to win the 200 backstroke by 1.23 seconds. Ben Denman-Grimm (Fr., Vienna, Va.) won the 100 free by 15-hundredths of a second with his winning time of 44.32. Matt Murphy (Jr., Mullica Hill, N.J.), recorded a 1:57.59 to win the 200 breaststroke by 1.33 seconds. Evan O’Dea (Fr., Brooklyn, N.Y.) won the 200 fly by 1.5 seconds with his effort of 1:45.82.
The Mids also won both of the 400 freestyle relay races. The team of Anastasia Fleming (Fr., Huntsville, Ala.), Sydney Paglia (Jr., West Grove, Pa.), Anna Freyman (Jr., Lake Mary, Fla.) and Megan McGrath (Fr., Jacksonville, Fla.) combined for a time of 3:25.10 to win the women’s race by 1.78 seconds. In the men’s final, Denman-Grimm, Evan McKelvey (Fr., Ann Arbor, Mich.), Cohen Bruner (So., Hilton Head, S.C.) and Paul Kinsella (Sr., Arlington, Va.) touched the wall in a time of 2:57.79 to win the race by 1.83 seconds.
1650 Freestyle – Women
4) Rachel Schlemmer / 16:59.22
1650 Freestyle – Men
1) Mitch Dubey /15:26.32 … 2) Josh Wurgler / 15:34.15 … 3) Josh Anderson / 15:42.46
200 Backstroke – Women
2) Chloe Skogg / 2:00.24
200 Backstroke – Men
1) Benjamin Stankovich / 1:46.48 … 3) Mike Jeschke / 1:50.14
100 Freestyle – Women
4) Ana Fleming / 51.41 … 6) Sydney Paglia / 51.89
100 Freestyle – Men
1) Ben Denman-Grimm / 44.32 … 5) Cohen Bruner / 44.93 … 6) Paul Kinsella / 44.97 … 7) Gavin Green / 44.98
200 Breaststroke – Women
4) Libby Miller / 2:14.88 … 7) Jessica Riggs / 2:17.78
200 Breaststroke – Men
1) Matt Murphy / 1:57.59 … 5) Richie Trentalange / 2:01.26
200 Butterfly – Women
No championship final qualifiers
200 Butterfly – Men
1) Evan O’Dea / 1:45.82 … 8) Josh Anderson / 1:49.41
400 Freestyle Relay – Women
1) Ana Fleming, Sydney Paglia, Anna Freyman, Megan McGrath / 3:25.10
400 Freestyle Relay – Men
1) Ben Denman-Grimm, Evan McKelvey , Cohen Bruner, Paul Kinsella / 2:57.79
This is an interesting meet that really shows the difference between the different division levels. With teams from Division 1, 2 and 3 all that are notorious for winning their conference it’s interesting to see the difference in levels that it takes to win. Though most of the swimmers here are the B team who didn’t make their conference team you have to remember that most of these swimmers could’ve scored at their respective conferences, but not as well as others on their teams.