Los Angeles, CA — On Saturday, the Tigers had their last dual meet against Chapman before their league championships. Not only did they swim fast, but they celebrated their seniors with tons of Tiger pride.
The men's team swam particularly well this weekend, pulling off a huge win against Chapman. Their momentum started with winning the 200 Medley relay! The winning relay consisted of Carter Park, Nate Pitroff, Matthew Spruance, and Josh Biggs and finished in a time of 1:35.30 inching out Chapman by about a second.
Representing Oxy solo, Josh Spessert swam a phenomenal 1000 freestyle in a time of 10:24.23 to win the event. Amanda George and the distance crew all fought hard in the women's 1000 showing great fight and determination. Amanda led the crew placing second in a time of 11:01.97, followed by Rachel Lillenthal (3rd, 11:02.44), and Campbell Gilbert (6th, 12:00.55).
Continuing the freestyle dominance, Sarah Radle and Alex To swept the 200 freestyles for the Tigers earning major points. Sarah finished in a time of 1:55.74, followed by Nathalie Kerrigan (4th, 2:00.72), and Caroline Agostini (6th, 2:04.70). Alex finished in a time of 1:45.51 followed by Ian Harker (3rd, 1:50.31).
The Tigers also had huge finishes in the 100 breaststroke on both sides. Florence Lo came flying in in a time of 1:08.43 to win the event by only .27 followed by Julia Mayuzumi-Shiroishi (4th, 1:10.47), and Eloise Sundal (9th, 1:16.88). The boys had a major 1-2 finish by Matthew Spruance and Nate Pitroff. Matthew won the event in 58.70 followed by Nate (2nd, 58.88), Peyton Resto (4th, 1:01.65), and Gavin Thomas (8th, 1:04.76).
The seniors are not only amazing people and students, but they also are beasts in the pool. In particular, senior Tommy Hoffman had a phenomenal meet. He won the men's 200 butterfly in a time of 1:56.74 (beating second place by 3 seconds) and the 100 fly where he fought until the end tied for first place in a time of 51.54. Swims like these help inspire the rest of the team to step it up at SCIACs.
To close out the meet, the men swam a speedy 400 freestyle relay to secure the win for Oxy. The relay consisted of Alex To, Nate Pitroff, Tommy Hoffman, and Josh Biggs who all worked together to outtouch Chapman by only about .21 in a time of 3:09.27. The B relay made up of Carter Park, Compton French, Luca Nisimblat, and Vadim Fedutinov also managed to outtouch Chapmans B relay. They finished strongly in a time of 3:17.67 to wrap up the meet.
Final Team Scores:
Men- 151.5-144.5 Oxy
Women- 180-118 Chapman
The Tigers are looking forward to swimming fast and racing hard at the SCIAC Swimming Championships which will be held February 15 to 18, 2023.
