WORCESTER, Mass. – The Brandeis swimming and diving teams completed Day 1 of the Gompei Invitational hosted by WPI on Friday. The Judges had a combined 32 finals swims and set a combined five school records on the day. Their combined scores had the Judges in 6th place with 1220.5 points.
On the women's side, there were school records in both relays and two individual events. The 200-yard medley relay team of sophomore Monica Iizuka (Chatham, N.J. / Chatham), senior Olivia Stebbins (Willington, Conn. / Edwin O. Smith), and juniors Bailey Gold (Berkeley Heights, N.J. / Governor Livingston) and Ema Rennie (Dublin, Ohio / Dublin Scioto) took second with a time of 1:47.25, breaking the previous school record by over 2.5 seconds. Rennie broke her own school record in the 50-yard freestyle by .17 seconds with a time of 24.01, earning her third in the event. Gold, in on a total of three of the school records, broke her own school record in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 57.22. Gold and Iizuka were joined by first-year Chloe Gonzalez (Miami Beach, Fla. / Miami Beach Senior) and sophomore Maya Haubrich (Grayslake, Ill. / Grayslake) for the 800-yard freestyle relay team that finished third with a time of 7:52.66, a new school record by over five seconds. Haubrich finished ninth in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:15.49. Rennie was joined in the 50-yard freestyle A final by Gonzalez who finished tenth with a time of 24.82. Gonzalez also joined Gold in the 100-yard butterfly A final, finishing tenth with a time of 1:01.69. The women had a total of 17 finals swims on the night.
On the men's side, sophomore Sam Dienstag (Wilmette, Ill. / New Trier) set the lone school record. Dienstag won the 500-yard freestyle in 5:32.87 to break his own school record by .07 seconds. The 200-yard medley relay team of first-year Andrew Ngo (San Gabriel, Calif. / Gabrielino), senior Brendon Lu (Basking Ridge, N.J. / Ridge), junior James Barno (Ballston Spa, N.Y. / Ballston Spa), and Dienstag took sixth with a time of 1:34.61. Lu and Ngo also A-finaled in the 200-yard individual medley placing fourth and sixth, respectively. Lu continued his night by taking second in the 200-yard breaststroke with a 2:06.60. Lu was joined in the A final by sophomore Seth Shin (Los Angeles, Calif. / Loyola), who finished eighth with a time of 2:10.65. Barno finished sixth in the 100-yard butterfly with a final time of 51.46. Dienstag and Lu were joined by sophomores Austin Shih (Brentwood, Tenn. / Brentwood) and Dylan Levy (Marlton, N.J. / Cherokee) for the 800-yard freestyle relay that finished eighth with a time of 7:09.79. The men had a total of 15 finals swims on the night.
The Gompei Invitational continues on Saturday and Sunday from WPI with preliminary sessions starting at 9:00 AM and finals sessions starting at 6:00 PM each day.
-- by Benton Ferebee '22