Furious Comeback Leads Garnet to Sweep of Diplomats
SWARTHMORE, Pa. - The Garnet swimmers capped off a stellar day in Ware Pool with a pair of victories in the 400 freestyle relays to complete a sweep of two-time defending Centennial champion Franklin & Marshall Saturday afternoon.
It is the first time since 1998-99 both Swarthmore swim teams have defeated the Diplomats on the same day.
On this day, Garnet junior Andrew Frampton won three individual events (200 freestyle, 200 butterfly, 500 freestyle) and Jonathan Augat '07 was a double-winner as the Swarthmore men (3-0 overall, 2-0 CC) downed the Diplomats (1-3 overall, 1-1 CC) 107-98.
Sarah Cotcamp '07 and Franny Zhang '08 were both double-winners, leading the Garnet women (3-0 overall, 2-0 CC) to a 108-97 victory over the Diplomats (3-2 overall, 2-1 CC) - the first win over F&M since the 2001-02 season.
The men's event was back and forth with Swarthmore assuming its first points lead of the day, 38-35, after Augat '07 won the 50 freestyle (22.36 - tied for sixth best in school history), with Koczo (22.62) and Douglas Gilchrist-Scott '09 (23.03) picking up valuable points for third and fourth, respectively. F&M took an 81-68 lead following a 1-2 finish in the 200 backstroke, but Frampton got the capacity crowd going with a stirring victory over Diplomats' All-American Derek Nowak in the 500 freestyle - the winning time was 4:55.85.
Koczo kept the momentum going, leading a host of Swarthmore men home in the 200 breaststroke, claiming victory in a time of 2:18.47 - the Garnet tallied 14 points in the event to take a 94-92 lead heading into the final event.
The Swarthmore quartet of Gilchrist-Scott, Augat, Michael Ahn '10, and Jason Horowitz '07 held of F&M's top relay team to clinch the team victory with a narrow win in the 400 freestyle relay (3:20.51).
The women's side was just as competitive - Anne Miller '10 posted her first of two top-ten times on the day by easily winning the 1000 yard freestyle (11:01.79). Cotcamp pushed the Garnet women into the lead for the first time (38-26) by winning the 50 freestyle with the eighth time in school history (25.02); Claire Shelden '10 and Michele Hom '08 took third and fourth place to push Swarthmore ahead. Zhang made her mark in the 100 freestyle (55.30 - a top ten time) as the Garnet swept the top three spots for a 69-62 lead.
F&M re-took the lead, 89-80, after the 200 backstroke, but Swarthmore would not be denied. The Garnet breaststroke specialists collected 15 points in the 200 yard race to hand Swarthmore a 95-93 advantage - senior Janice Yeo won the event with a time of 2:32.38 with Hom right on her heels in second (2:34.10).
The Swarthmore 400 freestyle relay team took care of business in the final event as Cotcamp, Shelden, Julia Wrobel '10, and Zhang easily beat the Diplomats to the wall with a time of 3:43.77.
A pair of Garnet freshmen Casey Osborn (second in 200 butterfly - 2:11.46) and Miller (second in 500 freestyle - 5:20.29) also contributed top-ten times in a special day for Swarthmore swimming.
The Garnet will swim next in New York City at a non-conference meet with New York University on November 18 at 2:00 p.m.