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 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.
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.
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