The men’s and women’s swim and dive teams made waves last weekend at the Tate Ramsden Invitational in Hanover. Facing the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, the men’s team swept all swimming events, while the women’s team won eight of 18 events across swim and dive against UMass and Northeastern University.
The Karl Michael and Spaulding Pool room was filled with excited nerves and the smell of chlorine as students, parents and fans showed up for the teams’ senior meet on Jan. 17 and 18. The men’s team entered the meet 1-8 while the women’s team entered 3-6.
Captain Sophie Wiener ’25 said she enjoyed seeing teammates from past years show up to support the seniors and the rest of the team.
“It is a lot more fun to swim when you have a big cheering section,” she said.
Reflecting on the meet, men’s captain Alexander Ye ’25 said he was “very happy” with the team’s performance. Ye competed in every non-diving event, placing first in the 200 IM with a time of 1:51.76.
“[The meet] was pretty emotional, definitely a culmination of a lot of hard work,” he said.
Diver Everett Tai ’26 qualified for NCAA Diving Zones in the men’s 1-meter and 3-meter dives.
Swimmer Tommy Erwin ’27 had a first-place finish with a time of 4:31.72 in the men’s 500 free and continued to have three first-place finishes throughout the invitational.
Yan Dvoretskiy ’25, Isaac Weigel ’25 and Xavier Orlic ’25 all finished first in the men’s 500 Yard Freestyle, swimming 4:31.89, 4:36.07 and 4:42.21, respectively.
The women’s swimming and diving team also defeated the UMass Minutemen, though they fell behind Northeastern. The women’s team finished the weekend with a total score of 340.55.
Diver Maggie Lambdin ’27’s 3-meter broke the pool and school record and qualified her for NCAA Zones with a total score of 340.55.
On the women’s 1-meter dive, Klara Johnsson Stjernström ’28 placed second with a score of 264.80. The next four places were also Dartmouth divers — Alyssa Palacios ’25, Maggie Lambdin ’27, Alexa Kalish ’26 and Claire Cornell ’27 — all scoring higher than any UMass diver.
Swimmer Kathy Jia ’27 took first overall in the 200 IM with a meet record time of 2:02.24. She also placed first in the 100 breast and the 200 breast.
In the 200 free, Samantha Li ’27 and Maddie Blackwell ’28 tied for first with times of 1:51.47.
Women’s swimmer Hayden Barry ’25 said she was “proud” of the team’s performance, adding that it left the seniors with a “good memory of our senior meet.”
After the meet, the teams honored their seniors with a senior recognition ceremony. According to Barry, each senior received flowers, and the team made a tunnel with their arms for each senior to run through as their names were announced and some words were read.
“It never really felt like I was almost done [with swimming] until the ceremony,” Barry said. “And that was kind of bittersweet.”
Ye agreed, adding that he never imagined it would be his turn to walk and give everyone a hug.
“It was definitely very surreal,” he added.
Barry started swimming at six years old and said she “can’t really remember life without swimming.” She added that it will be “really weird” to no longer be a varsity swimmer but said she is “ready for [her] journey as a college athlete to come to an end.”
Ye also emphasized the bittersweet nature of the end of his college athlete career.
“I’m learning how to translate everything I’ve learned from swimming into a post-grad life,” Ye said. “But I look forward to the new challenge, honestly.”
The men’s team will next compete on Feb. 1 against Columbia University at home. The women’s team will compete on Feb. 7 against Boston University in Boston.
