2023 NESCAC MEN’S SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS
- February 16-19, 2023
- Middletown, Conn.
- SCY (25 yards)
- Psych Sheet
- Live Results
Courtesy: NESCAC
MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – Williams College won 10 events and claimed its fourth consecutive NESCAC Men’s Swimming & Diving title and 20th overall with 1819.5 points.
Tufts finished as the NESCAC Runners-Up for the fourth year in a row with 1656.5 points. Amherst placed third (1133.5 points), Colby was fourth (915 points), and Conn. College (875 points) rounded out the top five teams.
The Ephs started off the evening winning the 1650 freestyle. Sophomore Carter Anderson edged out Amherst’s Gabriele Lunardi over the final few laps to grab first place with a time of 15:33.16.
Tufts’ Eric Lundgren repeated as the NESCAC Champion in the 200 backstroke. The sophomore posted a NESCAC meet and pool record time of 1:44.93 in the prelim swim in the morning and lowered the record in the evening session, 1:44.46.
Bates’ Nathan Berry won his second NESCAC title in as many days. The senior won the 100 backstroke on Saturday and added the 200 freestyle title on Sunday. Berry posted a winning time of 44.48.
Williams’ Jacob Grover claimed the 200 breaststroke title for the third straight year. The junior set a Wesleyan pool record with a time of 1:57.52 to win the event.
Sophomore Justin Finkel of Connecticut College reached an NCAA A-cut time of 1:45.31 to win the 200 butterfly. It was his second NCAA A-cut time of the meet and he also set a NESCAC meet and pool record with his winning swim in the event. It was Finkel’s third NESCAC title of the weekend after winning the 500 freestyle and 200 freestyle earlier in the meet.
Tufts, the top seed entering the 400 freestyle relay, won the race for the first time since 2020. The team of junior Will Sterns, sophomore Ethan Schreier, first-year Armaan Sikka, and senior Peter Labarge combined for a pool record time of 2:59.54.
Overall, 13 new NESCAC marks were established (9 NESCAC meet records and 4 NESCAC records) at the 2023 NESCAC Men’s Swimming & Diving Championships. A complete list of All-NESCAC performers can be found here.
Swimmer of the Meet: Justin Finkel, Connecticut College
Finkel is the second Connecticut College swimmer to earn the award (Sam Gill, 2014). The sophomore won the 500 freestyle, the 200 freestyle, and the 200 butterfly events. Finkel set NESCAC meet records in the 500 freestyle and 200 butterfly races and also achieved two NCAA A-cut times. He finished the championship with four All-NESCAC citations.
Rookie of the Year: Armaan Sikka, Tufts
Sikka is the second Tufts swimmer to be voted the Rookie of the Year (Kingsley Bowen, 2016). The first-year was a member of two Tufts relay squads that won NESCAC titles. He swam the third leg of the 200 medley relay that set a new NESCAC record and NESCAC meet record and was a member of the 400 freestyle relay that won the final championship event. Sikka also placed second in the 100 butterfly and was part of the Jumbos’ 800 freestyle relay that finished second on the opening night of the championships.
Diver of the Meet & Career High-Point Diver: Kobe Tray, Williams
Tray was voted as the Diver of the Meet award for the second straight year after sweeping the 1-meter and 3-meter diving events for the second consecutive year. The senior also totaled 183 career points at NESCAC Championships to also earn the Career High-Point Diver honor.
Career-High Point Swimmer: Nick Whitcomb, Williams
Whitcomb totaled 337 career points at the NESCAC Championships. He is the 15th Williams swimmer to earn the award. At the 2023 championships, Whitcomb earned All-NESCAC honors in four events with a win in the 50 backstroke, a second-place finish in the 400 medley relay and the 200 backstroke, and a third-place finish in the 100 backstroke.
Swim Coach of the Year: Tom Burton, Colby
Burton was voted the NESCAC Swim Coach of the Year by his peers and is the first Colby coach to win the award. He guided the Mules to their best placement (4th) in program history at the 2023 NESCAC Championships.
Diving Coach of the Year: Devon O’Nalty, Williams
O’Nalty earns the Diving Coach of the Year award for the second consecutive season and third time overall.
Real story of the meet was the stomach bug Bowdoin and amherst got, explains some of the wacky final placing
Bowdoin and Amherst both caught stomach bugs on Sunday and had to scratch a number of finalists — a real bummer for both. Cost Bowdoin at least 3 places and Amherst maybe an NCAA 400FR.
At least 3 places! Probably would have beaten Williams!
This is a joke right?
Did you see the final scores? Even if they had all of their Sunday swims, they’re not scoring 1,000+ points and beating Williams… beating Amherst was even a stretch
It was a total joke. In fact, they benefitted from Amherst scratches on by having 2 swimmers move up a final on Saturday evening. I’d love to see where anyone thinks they would even beat Colby or Conn.
Berry added the 100 free, not the 200 back title on Sunday.