America East Champs Swimming: New Hampshire Sweeps Day 1 Events

2021 AMERICA EAST SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• When:
  • Diving: Saturday, April 17 – Sunday, April 18
  • Swimming: Friday, April 23 – Sunday, April 25
• Where: 
  • Diving: Vestal, NY
  • Swimming: Newark, NJ
• Defending champions: New Hampshire women (1x) & UMBC men (4x) – results
• Championship central
• Live Results

Team Standings (Diving + Day 1 Swimming)

WOMEN

1. New Hampshire – 252
2. Vermont – 234.5
3. Binghamton – 228
4. UMBC – 146
5. Maine – 142.5
6. Stony Brook – 126
7. VMU – 74

MEN

1. Binghamton – 311
2. UMBC – 260
3. NJIT – 210
4. VMI – 172
5. Maine – 114

Women’s Recap

Defending America East women’s champions New Hampshire couldn’t have gotten out to a better start in the swimming event at these championships. UNH won all 5 events from day 1 of swimming, with Vermont taking Silver medals in 4 of the 5 events.

New Hampshire kicked off the meet with a tight victory over UMBC in the 200 medley relay. UMBC got out to the lead thanks to a 26.68 backstroke split from Caroline Sargent, with New Hampshire trailing at 27.28 (Michaela Herwig). After that, New Hampshire’s Jamy Lum and Abby McKinney split 28.28 and 25.10 respectively, giving New Hampshire the lead. Olivia Stille then brought UNH home with a 23.39, for a final time of 1:44.05. UMBC finished 2nd in 1:44.15.

After swimming the breaststroke leg of the 200 medley relay, UNH sophomore Jamy Lum went on to win the 500 free. Lum clocked a 4:52.99, posting the fastest splits in the field on each of the first 8 50s of the race. New Hampshire also had a pair of freshmen finish 3rd and 4th, and a sophomore finish 8th, displaying their strength in the event.

New Hampshire senior Miranda Bacon took the 200 IM, posting a 2:03.89. Bacon took over the race thanks to her middle 100, where she split 30.48 on backstroke, and 35.85 on breaststroke. UNH junior Cate Wardinski won the 50 free with a 23.46.

New Hampshire capped off the day with a dominant performance in the 800 free relay. Anna Metzler, Michaela Herwig, Paige Hillis, and Jamy Lum combined for a 7:27.93, touching first by over 7 seconds. With the win, Jamy Lum picked up 3 Golds on the first day of these championships.

Men’s Recap

NJIT got out to an electric start in their first year in the America East conference, winning the very first swimming event. Edward Madrigal, Nicholas Lyons, Ian Horstkamp-Vinekar, and Joshua Franco combined for a 1:30.55. NJIT also won the 800 free at the end of the session, clocking a 6:43.75 to edge out Binghamton. After building up a 5 second lead at the 600 mark, NJIT anchor Matthew Bevan held off an intense charge from Binghamton anchor Liam Murphy. Binghamton finished in 6:43.83. Also on the NJIT relay were Edward Madrigal, Joshua Franco, and Ian Horstkamp-Vinekar.

Liam Murphy, who nearly pulled off an impossible run down on the 800 free relay, won the 500 free earlier in the session. Murphy touched in 4:30.57, getting his hand on the wall 2.4 seconds ahead of the field. Despite the speed he showed in the 200 on the relay, Murphy took a more conservative approach to the 500, even-splitting the race 2:15.23/2:15.34.

Binghamton freshman Henry Shemet won a tight race with UMBC junior Luka Zuric in the 200 IM. Shemet and Zuric were close at the 100, 51.41 and 51.01 respectively, then Shemet opened up a lead with a 31.95 breast split. Zuric charged home in 25.90, over a second faster than Shemet, but Shemet got his hand on the wall first, 1:50.41 to 1:50.47.

UMBC pulled off a 1-2 finish in the 50 free, with Niklas Weigelt winning in 20.65, and Bode Neale touching 2nd in 20.77.