WALTHAM, Mass. – The Brandeis Swimming and Diving teams dropped a pair of dual meets this weekend despite several standout individual performances. Earlier today, the men and women lost at home to Bentley University by scores of 149-103 and 135-106, respectively. Brandeis lost yesterday on the road to Providence College. Scores were 118-70 for the men, and 142-58 on the women's side.
Against the Bentley Falcons, the Judges were paced by a trio of two-race winners on the men's side. Rookie Brian Luk (Hong Kong/Northfield Mount Hermon) led the way in the sprints, taking both the 50- and 100-yard freestyle races. Luk won the 50 in 22.79 seconds, and finished the 100 in 49.08.
Sophomore Max Fabian (Keene, N.H./Oak Meadow) won one of the distance-freestyle events, finishing first in the 1000-yard race with a time of 10:10.28. Fabian also won the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:08.75.
The team's third double winner was rookie David Lazarovich (Stowe, Vt./South Burlington), who swept the breaststroke events. Lazarovich won the 100 in :08.48, and took the 200 in 2:27.78.
Brandeis' first-place finish on the women's side came from rookie Theresa Gaffney (Braintree, Mass./Braintree), who won the 1000-yard race in 11:37.90.
In Providence, Brandeis faced a Division I team that routinely faces some of the top competition in New England. The Friars also compete in a 25-meter pool, a change of pace for the Judges. Brandeis typically competes in slightly-shorter 25-yard pools.
Leading the way was Fabian, who again was a double winner for the Judges. The sophomore transfer comfortably ran away with the 800-yard freestyle, finishing in 8:48.70. His 400-yard race was much tighter. Fabian touched the wall in 4:20.23, just beating Providence sophomore Justin Tse (Framingham, Mass./Lincoln-Sudbury Regional), who finished in 4:20.36.
The Judges had two other winners against the Friars. Senior Holly Spicer (Northampton, Mass./Northampton) continued her hot start to the season with a victory in the 100-yard breaststroke. Spicer finished the race in 1:17.71, out-touching Providence sophomore Leia Federiconi (Williamsville, N.Y./Nardin Acad.) by .48 seconds.
Luk also earned a victory against Providence. The first-year comfortably won the 100-yard freestyle, finishing with a time of 55.10 seconds.
The men's and women's sides both have the rest of November off. They will travel to Wesleyan University to take on the Cardinals on Dec. 1. Brandeis' next home meet will be Jan. 26, 2013 against Worcester Polytechnic Institute.