The Brandeis swimming and diving teams wrapped up the first semester at Clark University on Dec. 8. The Judge men had their closest meet of the season, falling to the Cougars by just 10 points, 138-128, despite winning 11 of 16 events. The difference in the meet came down to diving, where the Cougars were able to outscore the Judges, 18-0. On the women's side, Brandeis fell by a 172-118 margin.

Sophomore Max Fabian (Keene, N.H./Oak Meadow) continued his fantastic season with three wins, all coming in different disciplines from his normal distance freestyle events. Fabian captured the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:06.30, won the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:25.25 and the 400-yard individual medley with a time of 4:27.18. The closest of Fabian's three races, the 200 breast, was still decided by more than a full second, with his 400 IM win coming by more than 15 seconds.

Also winning three events for the Judges was junior Padraig Murphy (Northampton, Mass./Northampton). Muphy swept the backstroke events, edging his opponent in the 100 by 0.17 seconds with a time of 58 seconds even, and taking the 200 in 2:07.76, to win by just under five seconds. He also took the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:16.15, winning by 0.99 seconds.

Rookie Brian Luk (Hong Kong/Northfield Mount Hermon) won twice for the men, taking the 100 free in 49.20 seconds and the 100 butterfly in 55.12 seconds. Luk also finished second in the 50 free with a time of 22.44 seconds. Single-event winners for the Brandeis men included senior Niko Karkantis (Acton, Mass./Acton-Boxborough) in the 1,000-yard free  with a time of 11:33.31 and rookie Ariel Baron (Potomac, Md. / Winston Churchill) who took  the 200 free by just one-tenth of a second in 1:56.60. The team of Karkantis, rookie David Lazarovich (Stowe, Vt. / South Burlington), Murphy and Luk also won the 200 freestyle relay with a time of 1:34.51.

For the Brandeis women, senior Holly Spicer (Northampton, Mass./Northampton) continued to impress in the breaststroke, winning both events. Spicer captured the 100 in 1:09.49, a margin of four seconds, and the 200 in 2:35.26, winning by more than 18 seconds.

The Judges also had three swimmers win single events. First-year Lauren Cruz (Redmond, Wash. / Hamilton East-Steinert) took the 500-yard freestyle in 5:40.88. Sophomore Gabby Drillich (Harrington Park, N.J. / Northern Valley Regional) won the 200 butterfly in 2:33.41, while rookie Fay Laborio (Cranston, R.I. / Cranston West) took the 100 backstroke in 1:06.32.

The women also had a winning 200 free relay, as the team of rookie Fallon Bushee (Malden, Mass. / Mystic Valley Regional Charter Sch.), Spicer, senior Esther Tandetnik (Worcester, Mass. / Doherty) and rookie Theresa Gaffney (Braintree, Mass. / Braintree) won the final event of the meet by more than two seconds with a time of 1:51.35.

Brandeis off from intercollegiate competition until January 11 when they take on Boston College, but, leading up to that meet, the Judges will train for eight days in January in Puerto Rico on their annual training trip