It was a home opener for the Marist Red Foxes as both men and women teams came in with a 1-0 record after defeating Canisius. Just like the pool it was a full house for the Red Foxes as both teams looked to stay undefeated against Fordham University. The Men’s Swim team won by a score of 144-95 and move on to a record of 2-0 as they continue to pool up the standings in the MAAC. As for the Women’s swim team, they slipped on the pool deck as they lost 85-156.
It was quite a home debut for Ahmed Sallam as he finished in first place in the Splash for the Dash fifty-yard freestyle. He took first place once again in the men’s 100-yard freestyle by out touching his Fordham opponent by one-tenth of a second in a close race. Sallam took first place twice today and had what was already a packed house, seem even louder.
Both members of Marist’s men’s swim team John Hurley and Michael O’Donovan had a strong performance. In the Men’s 1000-yard freestyle Hurley took first and O’Donovan took second place. In the men’s 500-yard freestyle Hurley took first and O’Donovan took third. Ultimately a loud performance by the two.
Team captain O’Donovan showed up as always. He is one of the Red Foxes’ strongest and best swimmers. Although he did not come in first tonight he was consistently on the podium and that gets team points for Marist.
“The most important thing was that everyone had high energy, everyone cheered loud and really helped me,” said O’Donovan. “It seemed like our team was all gas and no break today which was great.” It indeed was, as the energy around the pool from the players surely showed.
Marist swept the diving competition today against Fordham. The Marist divers finished in first place in all four competitions. Esabelle Gervasio finished in first place tonight for both dives, helping the women’s team.
Team captain Raislan Aiken finished in first place with a score of 254.78 in the men’s tree meter dive and finished in second place in the one-meter dive with a score of 266.33 as teammate David Gallino scored slightly higher.
Ethan McCormac finished in second place in the Splash for the Dash fifty-yard freestyle after coming back from an injury. McCormac had been sidelined after being involved in an extreme sports accident. He finished in third place in the 100-yard freestyle
Marist Men’s finished one and two in the 200-yard fly. Sophomore transfer, Adam Kapusta swept competition with the time of 1:52.71. This was Kapusta’s second appearance for Marist after transferring from the University of Minnesota. Kapusta made a homecoming return as he swam for Marist tonight.
Sophomore Sidney Judson had a nice day as she was on the podium twice today. In her first race she took 2nd in the women’s 1000-yard freestyle with a season best time of 10:35.07. Her teammate Heather Hartman took fourth place in the thousand meters as well.
In Judson’s second race she came in second place once again as Fordham’s Chloe Mitchell barely beat her by .07 of a second. Marist’s Jordyn Deubel followed right behind as she finished in third. Judson looks to continue to improve and she has her eyes on first place in their next meet against Rider.
“It was a really good quiz for us, I feel great to be 2-0,” said O’Donovan. “Next week is going to be the biggest meet against Rider.” Marist men’s swim and dive team look forward to becoming 3-0 next Saturday against Rider.
Edited By: Sean McGee