Seton Hall men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams went down to Ocala, Florida, for the BIG EAST Swim and Dive Championships with some of the biggest expectations in program history.
However, after a men's second-place finish and a women's sixth-place finish, maybe that bar was set too low.
Men’s Swim & Dive: Wednesday, Day One
On Wednesday, the team of sophomore Balint Marosi, senior Micheal Klimaszewski, graduate senior Jack Callan and senior Kevin Cary took home second place with a time of 6:31.74, earning 34 points for The Hall.
Thursday, Day Two
The next day, sophomore Nicholas Graham finished fifth in the 1-meter diving prelims. From an outsiders perspective, this would be the cause for concern for the defending Big East Champion.
However, in the finals, Graham broke all laws of gravity, reminding everyone why he won the BIG EAST title last year as just a freshman with a score of 348.25, winning this year’s event by over 20 points and securing 20 points for the Pirates in the team standings.
The win for Graham was just the beginning of Pirate dominance: Immediately after Graham's win in the dive, Callan won the 500 freestyle with a time of 4:26.25. Callahan stayed patient, not taking the lead until the race’s 300-yard mark, but had more than enough in the tank to bring home 20 points for the Pirates.
SHU stayed hot with Marosi and Cary going 1-2 in the 200 IM with times of 1:45.82 and 1:46.73, respectively. Marosi led from start to finish, holding an impressive gap throughout the race, while Cary had an incredible finish, moving up from fourth to second in the final 50 as the duo earned 37 points.
Friday, Day Three
Friday morning came and it was clear that Thursday's high had not worn off.
Klimaszewski narrowly finished second in the 100 butterfly, earning 17 points. 40 minutes later, Cary reeled in his second consecutive BIG EAST East Championship title in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:36.23, scoring 20 points.
20 minutes later, Marosi won his second event of the competition in the 100 backstroke with just as much dominance as Thursday's IM. Marosi scored a huge 20 points that began to cut into Georgetown's commanding day one lead, as the Pirates got within 30 points of the lead.
The Pirates ended Friday night with the team of Marosi, sophomore Evan Wilson, Klimaszewski, and Cary earning a win in the 400 medley relay. Klimaszewski’s third leg was the difference maker, as the Pirates went from down 0.15 seconds to Georgetown to up 1.23 seconds behind the senior.
Saturday, Fourth & Final Day
Saturday marked the final day of competition, and the Pirates were in second place, in need of points to catch up to Georgetown in the team standings. And with that, the stage was set for The Hall’s biggest scoring event of the championships.
The trio of Callan, freshman Zachary McLeod, and senior Clil Haveli went 1-2-3 in the 1650 freestyle, scoring 53 points total. It was a very competitive race for first between the trio, with McLeod holding a commanding two-second lead midway through the race before Callan made a huge move with 200 to go to snatch the crown.
12 minutes later, Marosi took home his fourth first-place finish of the championships in the 200 backstroke with a time of 1:45. This race was more tactical for Marosi, as he held a 0.03 advantage heading into the final 50 before dropping a monster kick to secure the win.
When the Pirates needed him most, with Villanova making a push for second, Superman donned his cape again, as Graham dominated the 3-meter dive with a score of 370.05. Graham won the event by over 50 points and provided a crucial 20 points that got the lead down to 125.
When the final event, the 400 freestyle relay, rolled around, the Pirates were out of the equation for the team title; however, the team of junior Toma Adam, Klimaszewski, Marosi, and Cary was barely edged out by Georgetown, taking second place with a time of 2:55.84 and earning the final 34 points for the Pirates.
Women’s Swim & Dive: Wednesday, Day One
On the women's side, competition started strong Wednesday night with a fifth-place finish in the 200 medley relay as the team of sophomore Bianka Bukovis, junior Yosun Hacifazioglu, junior Shun Qi Lim and junior Naima Hazell clocked 1:43.22 and earned 50 points. Lim and Hazzel had great back halves of the relay, swiping a couple of places over the second half of the race.
Thursday, Day Two
On Thursday, the Pirates started with some individual points before scoring solidly all around. In the 500 freestyle, sophomore Zeynep Aysoy competed in the C final and finished 18th overall with a season's best time of 5:03.33, earning seven early points.
Later that night in the 200 IM, the duo of freshman Ella Drakulich and Bukovics finished 16th and 19th, respectively. For Bukovics, her time of 2:07.18 was a season's best.
To end the night, the 200 freestyle relay team of Hazell, Naber, freshman Skylar Hay and junior Carys Graville finished fifth with a time of 1:35.08, earning 50 points. Graville’s leg time of 23.42 was just enough to hold off an attack from the Butler Bulldogs.
Friday, Day Three
On Friday, freshman Lindsay Naber had a huge performance in the 100 butterfly, finishing ninth overall and winning the B final with a time of 55.62. This performance was not only huge for the Pirates, as it provided 20 important points, but also for Naber, who broke her season's best by over a second.
Later in the night, the Pirates had arguably the best event of the championships. Hacifazioglu had a huge performance, making it into the A final of the 100 breaststroke.
Hacifazioglu beat her season’s best by almost half a second with a time of 1:03.75 and 22 points. Drakulich and Hazell also had great performances in the B final, finishing 11th and 12th respectively, bringing the event's point total to 53.
In the 100 backstroke, Bukovics and Naber both competed in the B final and finished 12th and 14th, respectively, each improving on their preliminary times.
Saturday, Fourth & Final Day
On the final day of competition, the Pirates sat in sixth place with 336 points and needed some strong individual performances to turn the tide.
To start, Aysoy swam a masterful 1650 freestyle, placing 13th and scoring 14 points. Bukovics and Lindsay Naber then finished 14th and 15th, respectively, in the 200 backstroke. Graville finished 14th in the 100 freestyle and Hacifazioglu and Drakulich finished 13th and 14th in the 200 backstroke. The Pirates' onslaught of individuals gave fifth-place Butler a run for their money and held off a push from Providence to secure sixth place.
Overall, the trip to the Sunshine State was a strong showing for the Pirates. Head Coach Derek Sapp continues to showcase consistency as the men's program has finished second or third in the past five BIG EAST Championships, and this marks the first time in five years the women's team has finished outside the top five.
While expectations can be daunting for most groups, this group just anchored down and went to work.
William Gilhooly is a writer for The Setonian’s Sports Section. He can be reached at william.gilhooly@student.shu.edu.
