Doug Is First One to the Shore
SWARTHMORE, Pa. -- Swarthmore senior Doug Gilchrist-Scott won both freestyle sprint events as both Garnet swim teams swept Washington in their final Centennial dual meet Wednesday night at Ware Pool.
Swarthmore women (7-3, 5-2 CC) edged out a 105.5-99.5 victory while the men earned a 123-82 decision to improve to 5-4 overall and 4-2 in the Conference.
Freshman Allison Bishop (Macungie, Pa. / Emmaus) got the Swarthmore train rolling in the 1,000-yard freestyle with a victory in a time of 11:22.89. Sophomore Sarah Bedolfe (Dana Point, Calif. / Dana Hills) helped post a 1-2 Garnet finish (11:27.24).
The Garnet women collected valuable points in the next two races before Casey Osborn '09 (Albany, Calif. / Albany) engineered a Swarthmore sweep in the 200 IM with a time of 2:20.04, her season-best. Sophomore Stephanie Su (Parsippany, N.J. / Parsippany Hills) was right behind in second (2:21.00) and Rosalie Lawrence '12 (Santa Cruz, Calif. / Pacific Collegiate) got up for third (2:22.29).
Swarthmore stayed with the Shorewomen (10-4 overall, 3-4 CC) picking up second and third place finishes over the next five events. Su broke up the streak with her first victory of the night in the 200 breaststroke, clocking in at 2:33.63, her fastest time of the season (second in Conference).
The Swarthmore clinched the dual-meet win by posting first and third in the final event of the night, the 400-freestyle relay. Claire Shelden ’10 (Lewiston, Mont. / Fergus), Chelsea Brett ’11 (Mechanicsburg, Pa. / Trinity), Naomi Glassman ‘12 (Palo Alto, Calif. / Henry Gunn) and senior Laura Rainey (Arlington, Va. / Yorktown) combined for the fastest time (3:48.41).
The Garnet men had an easier time, flexing their muscles in the final races before the Conference Championships. Gilchrist-Scott (Canton, Ohio / Hoover), the reigning Sprint Champion in the Centennial (he won gold in the 50 freestyle at the Championship meet in 2008), set the table for a similar performance in 2009 by winning the 50-yard and 100-yard freestyle on Wednesday night. The senior (above) clocked in at 22.16 and 49.75, respectively, and found a familiar face taking second in both events. Freshman Tim Brevart (Swarthmore, Pa. / Strath Haven) followed Gilchrist-Scott in the 50 (22.73) while junior Michael Ahn (Cupertino, Calif. / Monta Vista) took second-place honors in the 100 (51.00)
Garnet senior Stephen Shymon (Encinitas, Calif. / University of San Diego HS), the top distance freestyle swimmer in the Conference, warmed up for the Centennial meet by posting the fastest 1000 free time in the Centennial this year (10:15.37).
Swarthmore also took the top two spots in the 200 IM with Sterling Satterfield ’11 (Durham, N.C. / Charles Jordan) winning in a time of 2:04.38 and Lance Liu ’12 (Paoli, Pa. / Conestoga) cruising in at 2:05.13. Liu found victory lane himself, winning the 200 breaststroke in a time of 2:18.73.
The Swarthmore men closed out the victory by taking the top two spots in the 400-yard freestyle relay. The team of Satterfield, Brevart, Ahn and Gilchrist-Scott was the first to finish, posting a time of 3:23.06.
Both Swarthmore teams have over a week to prepare for the annual Centennial Conference Swimming Championships, set to take place in the Kunkel Aquatics Center on the campus of Franklin & Marshall College on Feb. 20-22. The Garnet men and women both placed second in last year’s Championship meet.
Click here for FULL RESULTS.