BRONXVILLE, N.Y. - The Sarah Lawrence men's and women's swim teams both earned victories over the Fashion Institute of Technology on Saturday, with the Gryphons winning all four relay events and 13 of the 20 individual events on the day. The men's team has now earned their most dual meet wins in the past three seasons while the women's team earned their eighth victory of the season, only falling to Division II Pace University and the Skyline Conference-leading Merchant Marine Academy thus far.

The men's swim team had its best meet in recent memory, with five swimmers touching the wall first in individual events. Patrick Rau continued his impressive second season with the Gryphons, winning the 200 freestyle, 100 butterfly and 50 butterfly in addition to the first leg of the winning 200 freestyle relay. Rau was joined in that relay by Jonas Ellwanger, a former Skyline Rookie of the Week who won the 100 freestyle, finished second in the 200 breaststroke and also earned a relay victory in the 200 medley race. Dylan Bernard (who has since won Skyline Men's Swimmer of the Week) earned a first-place finish in the 50 freestyle while swimming the anchor in both relay races. Kaeden Potts and Peter Miles rounded out the first-place individual finishers for SLC, with Potts claiming a victory in the 50 breaststroke and Miles doing so in the 50 backstroke. Moss McHold-Burke helped the Gryphons to a meet-opening victory in the 200 medley relay, swimming the opening leg to help SLC get out to a fast start.

For the women's team, it was business as usual, with dominant relay performances and strong individual swims across the board. All 13 swimmers scored and many set season and lifetime bests in the meet. Junior Allie Abemayor had two career-best swims of her own, finishing the 50 freestyle in 36.47 and the 100 breaststroke in 1:47.12, which was good for a second-place finish. A trio of Gryphons took home three wins each, as Eva Guarda-Vazquez, Ella Hernan and Julia Maecker all earned both individual and relay victories (Note: Hernan would go on to win Skyline Women's Swimmer of the Week while Maecker earned another Skyline Rookie of the Week Award). Guarda-Vazquez earned an individual win in the 50 breaststroke before helping the Gryphons secure dominant victories in the 200 freestyle and medley relays while Hernan won both the 50 and 100 backstroke races to pair with the 200 freestyle relay victory. Maecker joined Guarda-Vazquez in the 200 medley relay before winning (and setting personal bests) in both the 100 breaststroke and 100 I.M. races. Fellow first-year swimmers Amelie Burg and Kirsten Eads each joined Maecker with top performances, as Eads set a personal best in the 100 I.M., finishing second behind Maecker before a season-best time in the 100 freestyle that earned her another top-three finish. Eads swam the first leg of the winning 200 medley relay as well, plus asses a third-place finish in the 50 breaststroke for her fourth top-three finish of the day. Burg was busy in the pool as well, with three top-three individual swims and relay victory to her name. Her second-place finish in the 50 freestyle led all SLC swimmers and third-place finishes in the 50 butterfly and 100 backstroke gave the first-year swimmer four total top-three finishes on the day. 

SLC seniors McKenzie Shaffer-Kay and Josie Laur also had strong meets, with Shaffer-Kay winning the 100 butterfly and helping the Gryphons take home the crown in the 200 medley relay. Laur set a season-best in the 50 backstroke, finishing second to Hernan, before a fourth-place finish in the 50 freestyle. The senior also swam in the 200 freestyle relay, helping SLC end the meet with a victory. Keilani Talma continued her own impressive SLC career with too wins in the relay events and a pair of second-place finishes in the 50 butterfly and 100 freestyle. Talma set a season-best time in the 50 butterfly, touching the wall in 28.20 to secure second place. Linda Kelly earned a personal best in the 50 breaststroke, finishing in fifth place as one of three top-five finishes on the day for the sophomore. Jocelyn Engel put up a season-best swim in the 200 freestyle, good for fourth place in addition to a third-place result in the 200 freestyle relay. Sonjia Armitage and Juliet Delap each earned a pair of top-five finishes in individual swims and both were part of SLC's third-place winning 200 freestyle relay team. Armitage also finished third in the 200 medley relay with Abemayor, Burg and Shaffer-Kay.

Up Next

The Gryphons will not return to the pool for the remainder of the 2024 calendar year, with a January training trip and a January 18th meet at St. Joseph's Long Island being their only competitions before the Skyline Championships late in January.