Men's Swimming and Diving | January 19, 2019
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - Saturday's dual meet began with the seniors on La Salle's Swimming & Diving team--
Olivia DiStefano,
Collin Kessinger,
Aleksandar Nikolic, and
Kyle McElwee--each recognized for their years of hard work and dedication. With family and friends cheering them on during a special day at Kirk Pool, the elder statesmen (and stateswomen) played their part in an impressive team performance. McElwee shone with a victory in the 500 Free and a second-place result in the 200 Free, Nikolic swam well with second and third-place finishes, Kessinger placed third in both the 100 and 200 breast, and Distefano nabbed two points for her team with a fourth place result in the 100 Back.
MEET NOTES
- Men's swimming & diving moved above .500 with a 210.5 - 86.5 battering of the Rams. The win brings them to 3-2 on the season. Meanwhile the women, although dropping to 0-6 in single-competition meets with a 195-105 defeat, showed improvement after a tough loss to Villanova on Wednesday.
- Coach Jamie Platt saw the continued progress from both men and women as a key takeaway of the meet, with an eye on near-future success: "As we move closer to championships, we want to see continued growth and that is what we have seen and expect to see Monday. From Wednesday until today, there were improvements made to strategy, times and effort. We are headed towards big things!"
- The men's team had three multi-event winners: Zachary Wolbert (100 Fly, 200 Fly, and 400 IM), Marcus Forsgren (50 Free and 100 Breast), and Ian Venter (100 and 200 Back). Additionally, they also had five athletes with one win.
- The women, while not touching first as much, had two girls claim multiple top finishes. Carrie Horan won the 100 and 200 Breast, while Phoebe Shaya dazzled on the boards with victories in the 1-meter and 3-meter contests.
- It was smooth water in the diving end as the Explorers recorded a clean sweep of Fordham, taking gold and silver in all competitions. Shaya and fellow freshman Kaitlyn Smykowski finished 1-2 in the 1-meter and 3-meter. As for the men, the tandem of Blake Griffith and Steven Stasolla dominated: Griffith took the 1-meter with Stasolla finishing runner-up, while Stasolla pipped his teammate for first in the 3-meter.
- The La Salle men swam in packs and when they came out on top, they were often together. On four occasions--the 200 and 500 Free, 100 Breast, and 400 IM--the Explorers crowded the podium with 1-2-3 finishes. In six events, the scoreboard showed Explorers in the top two. While those were individual groupings, the men also thrived when they needed to swim together, as they were victorious in both the 200 IM Relay and 400 Free Relay.
UP NEXT
- The Explorers remain at home over the weekend as they gear up to host Loyola (MD.) on Monday. The dual meet begins at 12 p.m. in Kirk Pool and can be streamed on ESPN+.
