CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - As the NEISDA meet came to a close, concluding the season for the Brandeis Men's Swimming and Diving team, the Judges stood on the podium with a second-place finish, the highest finish since at least 2012-2013. As a team, Brandeis had 15 podium appearances that helped the Judges edge out its opponents for second place.
Over the course of the entire meet, Brandeis received at least one podium finish in each of the disciplines. In freestyle events, the Judges were led by a strong effort from the relay teams and distance swimmers. Sophomore Richard Selznick (Las Vegas, Nev./ Palos Verde) had quite the freestyle meet, winning the 1650 yard race (16:32.55), and finishing second in the 500 (4:43.27). Junior Tamir Zitelny (Syosset, N.Y./ Syosset) and Marcelo Ohno-Machado (San Diego, Calif./ Torrey Pines) each had impressive individual performances in the freestyle with Zitelny finishing second in the 100 (46.05 seconds), while Ohno-Machado placed fourth in the 200 (1:46.62) and fifth in the 100 (48.27 seconds). The Judges swam well in the individual medleys, paced by junior Matthew Arcemont (Santa Ana, Calif./ Mater Dei) who won the 100 yard IM in school-record time (53.14 seconds), and Selznick who won the 400 IM (4:09.08). First-year Brendon Lu (Basking Ridge, N.J./ Ridge) got in on the action with a third-place finish in the 200 yard IM (1:57.31) and 200-yard breaststroke (2:15.32) and finishing in fourth place in the 100 breaststroke (59.92 seconds).
One of the highlights of the entire meet was Zitelny's record-breaking performance in the 100-yard backstroke. With a blistering time of 50.07 seconds, Zitleny set a new meet record for the event. First-year Benton Ferebee (Germantown, Tenn./ Memphis University School) and junior Tom Alger (Plymouth, Mass./ Sacred Heart), had good swims in the 50 back, with Ferebee finishing in fifth (25.20 seconds), while Alger came in sixth place (25.70 seconds). Meanwhile, the butterfly proved to be a stronghold for the Judges as Zitelny and fellow junior Arcemont swept the 100-yard race, going 1-2 with times of 49.63 and 51.00 seconds respectively. Arcemont again reached the podium in the 50 butterfly sprint, placing third with a time of 23.53 seconds. Junior Justin Weissberg (Long Beach, N.Y./ Long Beach) had one of his best swims all season to place fifth in the 200 butterfly, one of the top times for the team all season, 1:59.80.
The relay teams all found significant success during the meet. The 200, 400, and 800-yard freestyle relays all came in second place. Made up of Zitelny, Arcemont, Alger, and Ohno-Machado, the 200 free relay came in just behind first place, and eventual meet winners, Roger Williams, with a time of 1:26.18. The 400 free relay team, consisting of Selznick, Ohno-Machado, Arcemont, and Zitelny, touched the wall with a final time of 3:10.45, around three seconds behind first place. The 800 free relay had Ohno-Machado lead off, followed by Lu, sophomore Chase Chen (Villanova, Penn./ The Hill School), and Selznick swimming anchor, for a 7:06.56 final time, good for second place. A stroke infraction nullified the 400-yard medley relay team of Zitelny, Lu, Arcemont, and Ohno-Machado. But the 200-yard medley relay team of Zitelny, Lu, Arcemont, and Alger came in third place (1:34.67), setting a new school record, in a tight race, as just .14 seconds separated Brandeis from second place and only 1.3 seconds from first.
Finishing with 578 points, just beating out Bridgewater State University and Norwich University for second place. Overall meet winners Roger Williams ran away with the men's team category to the tune of 932 total points.