The Lehman College men's and women's swimming and diving teams were back in action last night as the teams participated in a dual meet against SUNY Maritime and USMMA King's Point. On the women's side, the Lightning picked up a 73-20 victory over the Privateers but fell to the Mariners, 56-52. The outcomes pushed Lehman's swimming squad to a 2-4 overall mark. On the men's side, the Lightning fell to both schools, losing to SUNY Maritime 74-39 while being turned back by USMMA 73-38. The pair of defeats dropped Lehman's men's unit to 2-3 on the season.
On the women's side, the Lightning performed tremendously as a unit, recording some of their best times of the season. Out of 19 individual swims, the team swam 12 best times. In relay competition, Lehman recorded an additional 10 season or personal best times. Winning for the Lightning was the relay team of Luisa Garcia, Jessica Espinal, Judy Espinal, & Basilisa Alonso. Garcia also captured the 200 Freestyle and the 100 Backstroke. Judy Espinal won the 50 Freestyle and placed second in the 100 Freestyle while Alonso won the 100 Fly and placed second in the 200 IM. Joanne Gonsalves-Barreiro placed second in the 100 Backstroke, Jessica Espinal took second in the 100 Breast, and the 200 Freestyle Relay team was touched out for first place by less than one second in the final event. The Lightning came into the meet with terrific energy and it showed in the team's performances.
It was a quiet night for the Lehman men, but despite the loss, standout Luis Arias continued his surge in the early stages of the season as he performed well in the men's 500 Freestyle event, placing second. Following the meet, Head Coach Peter Kiernan was very happy with the performance of his women's squad, and he also believes the men's team will bounce back.
“Our women's continue to drop their times every time they are in the pool, and it is very pleasing to see,” Kiernan said. “We're coming out with more and more energy with each passing meet, and our confidence is at a high right now. As for the men's squad, we swam hard and we just had an off night, but there is so much talent on this squad and I know we'll come out in our next meet, prepared and ready to do some damage.”
Next up for the men's and women's swimming and diving squads is the ECAC Championships beginning Friday, December 05, through Sunday, December 7 at the Nassau County Aquatic Center in East Meadow, LI.
