Swimming successful in ECACs

By Joe Fallon

The Broncs were a bit under the weather last week as they competed in the Eastern College Athletic Conference Championships. They still did fairly well however, as both the men’s and women’s teams placed in the top five.

“A lot of our athletes were sick this past weekend in Pittsburgh,” said Head Coach Stephen Fletcher. “People had bronchitis and the flu, so some of athletes had to sit out some of the competition, which affected our team standings, but the team overall, those that were healthy, swam pretty well.”

The women ranked fourth with 344 points, which is better than they did last year, and the men ranked fifth with 356 points. Despite being sick and not scoring first place, the Broncs were satisfied with the results.

“Things went pretty well,” said senior Dan Burgess. “People on our team were sick, so some people weren’t swimming as well as they hoped, but we were well-prepared for the meet. It’s just that things didn’t come together.”

Even when the Broncs don’t win a meet, they always walk away with something that evens things out, and this was the case for this meet. The women’s team placing in the top five was important for them.

“It was the women’s team first time in the top five,” said Fletcher. “Last year they finished ninth, and this year they finished fourth as a team. So it was an important meet and a milestone for the women’s team.”

There were other successes for the Broncs. Dan Burgess won the 200 free, which is
something that he had never accomplished at the meet before.

Also, men’s divers senior Chris Coles and sophomore Dylan Korn qualified for the NCAA zone championship. If they win, they can move onto the NCAA championships.

“Chris Coles and I both qualified for zones, its amazing,” said Korn. “We’re the second or third divers in Rider history to qualify for this meet. To do it my sophomore year is great.”
In addition, a number of athletes qualified for the U.S. Open, which is sponsored by United States Swimming and is held in December.

“Some of the best swimmers in the world are competing at that meet, said Fletcher. “It’ll be a great experience for our athletes to go,”

The ECAC marked the end of the season for Rider’s swimmers and divers. They now look back on the exciting season with fond memories.

“This year has been a really good year for me,” said Dylan Korn. “I broke the Rider record on one meter, and I broke the MAAC record on one meter. It was definitely my best season to date; it’s kind of like a rollercoaster. In the beginning I was doing really well, then I hit a slump in December, but by the end of January I started to build back up.”

The Broncs are looking forward to another season next year, and are ready to help each other with the hope of capitalizing on this season’s achievements.

“Coming in as a freshman, I was able to do all these things, but I probably wouldn’t have been able to do them without the help of the coaches and my teammates,” said freshman Priscilla Modrov. “We helped each other work hard this year. We keep performing better, so I think each year we’re going to get stronger and stronger, and next year we will hopefully win the MAAC championship.”