Orry Zayit will be transferring to Marist College after two seasons of swimming at the University of Connecticut. The news comes after UConn announced in June that it would be cutting its swimming and diving program at the conclusion of the 2020-2021 season.
In an interview with the Marist Athletic Department, head coach Larry VanWagner said, “It is truly disheartening to witness another division I swimming team fall. However, Marist will truly benefit from Orry’s addition to our backstroke and butterfly events.”
Zayit scored points in his individual events during both his freshman and sophomore season for the Huskies at the Eastern College Athletic Conference Championships. During his freshman year, he made it back in the B-final in the 100 fly and the A-final in the 200 fly. His 100 back time of 53.05 tied him for 18th place with Anno Kong of the Virginia Military Insitute. The men participated in a swim-off, where Zayit ultimately out-touched Kong by 0.26 seconds. Zayit went from 16th in prelims of the 100 fly, to 13th in finals (50.87) and he placed 4th overall in the 200 fly (1:49.87).
Below is a comparison between Zayit’s pre-college top times, and his top times from his first two collegiate seasons:
| Event | PB High School | PB College |
| 200 fly | 1:47.51 | 1:47.85 |
| 100 fly | 49.63 | 49.15 |
| 200 IM | 1:53.08 | 1:55.06 |
| 100 breast | 57.75 | 1:02.21 |
This season, Zayit earned a spot in finals in all three of his individual events. He placed 16th in prelims and finals of the 100 back (51.27), going 1.23 seconds faster than his swim-off time the previous year. He finished 12th overall in the 100 fly, splitting a personal best time in the first 50. His time of 49.15 was 1.72 seconds faster than he swam at the 2019 championships. Finally, he took home a sixth-place finish in the 200 fly. His prelims time of 1:47.85 was only 0.34 seconds off of his lifetime best time.
Zayit will join the 2020 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championship runners-up in the fall of 2020. His 100 and 200 fly times from the 2019-2020 season would have placed him in the A-final at the championship meet, while his 100 back time would have earned him a spot in the B-final.
Zayit is a rising junior is set to join Marist’s class of 2022. He has two more seasons of eligibility as an NCAA athlete.
Several other former UConn swimmers have transferred including Gavin Moak and North Hansen who transferred to Ohio State, Jack Gray who will be joining the Southern Connecticut State men’s team, Emils Gustav Jurick who committed to Northwestern.
miss u morhodi