Men’s Swim & Dive Shines as Beavers Open 2024
Caltech Men's Swim & Dive hosted California Baptist University on Saturday for the Beavers' season opener at Braun Pool where multiple student-athletes posted noteworthy performances.
First-year Samuel Xie (Princeton, N.J. / The Lawrenceville School) swam one of the fastest 200-yard butterfly times in all of Division III this season as he collected 1:51.81 to earn runner-up, just barely missing out on the victory behind his Div. I opponent who took the race in 1:51.23. With the result, Xie lands at No. 3 on the current national Div. III performance list for the 200 Free; his speedy time puts him at No. 4 all-time in school history for the event.
Caltech cleaned up 2-3-4 in the race as junior Pierre Zeineddin (Gaithersburg, Md. / Richard Montgomery) finished in 1:57.47 for third and sophomore Reid Nussbaum (Cohasset, Mass. / Cohasset) tapped the wall at 1:58.13 for fourth.
The 200-yard breaststroke saw another program top-10 showing as rookie Thomas Fenton (Lynchburg, Va. / Virginia Episcopal School) posted a 2:10.81 for seventh all-time on the school leaderboard. The first-year just barely missed out on the runner-up, who finished just .32 seconds ahead. Sophomore Tommaso Colombo (Wellington College International / Shanghai) followed in fifth at 2:11.20, moving him into eighth all-time in Caltech history.
The 100-yard breaststroke saw two Caltech athletes finish in the top-4, with Colombo nabbing third at 58.94 followed by rookie Alvin Zhang (Bellevue, Wash. / Lakeside School) who finished with a time of 58.99 for fourth. Colombo currently sits at No. 4 all time after swimming a 56.57 at the SCIAC Championships this past February; Zhang's time moves him into eighth all-time in the Caltech records.
Zhang also excelled in the men's 100-yard butterfly, grabbing third overall with a time of 50.69 seconds, good for seventh all-time on Caltech's record boards; sophomore Marcel Liu (Natick, Mass. / Phillips Academy) finished moments later at 51.13 for fourth place.
Junior Simon Hu (Clarksville, Md. / River Hill) earned major points for the team after securing second in both the 200-yard freestyle (1:45.21) and 200 IM (2:00.73); Xie came through moments later in the 200 IM to place third at 2:01.05.
In the 200-yard medley relay, Caltech nabbed third out of seven with a time of 1:34.19 as a result of the combined performances of first-year swimmer and diver Aaron Dumas (San Diego / Cathedral Catholic), Zhang, Liu and first-year Athanasios Boutakidis (Pasadena, Calif. / Flintridge Preparatory). Dumas led the team in the 200-yard backstroke, placing third (2:00.83).
After posting numerous Caltech top-10 times, head coach Andrew Babson's squad will practice and prepare for their next meet as they battle the Tigers of Occidental College on the road this Saturday Nov. 2 at 10:30 a.m.
