Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving performed strongly this weekend at the Navy Invite. The women’s team secured 18 top-three finishes, 7 of which were first place.
Virginia Hastings ’27 posted two first-place finishes, one in the 500 freestyle (4:57.05) and one in the 400 IM (4:26.44). Her 500 free time was the third fastest among Patriot League female swimmers this season, and her 400 IM time was the fastest time by a Bucknell swimmer this season. Performing as well as she did, Hastings earned the title of Patriot League Female Swimmer of the Week.
Kate Handley ’27 also had an outstanding performance, securing first place in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:18.02. Her time was a program top-10 performance and is ranked 7th in school history. Esme Hunter ’24 also had a program top-10 performance in the 200 IM with a score of 2:03.34, which is ranked 10th in school history. Hunter also secured second place in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:51.02.
As for the rest of the first-place winners, Sydney Dettman ’27 won the 200 Freestyle with a finish of 1:50.92, Kendall Luecke ’25 won the 200 Backstroke, notching a time of 2:05.06 and Kyla Kelly ’26 won 100 IM with a time of 57.32.
As for the men’s team, they posted nine top-three finishes, two of which were wins.
John Gehrig ’24 placed first in the 100 Butterfly with a score of 48.67, and four of the other top six spots were also secured by Bison. Chris Kopac ’25 took third, Finn Russell ’27 took fourth, followed by Andy Dorsel ’25 in fifth and Justin DiSanto ’25 in sixth.
Gehrig also placed second in the 100 IM with a time of 51.01.
Alex Crossing ’26 placed first in the 200 Freestyle, scoring a 1:40.60 time.
Aside from Gehrig’s second-place spot, Kopac took second in the 200 IM, as did Will Hedges ’25 in the 100 breaststroke, Chris Fabian ’24 in the 200 backstroke and DiSanto tied for one in the 50 Freestyle. The Orange and Blue also secured second in the 200 Freestyle Relay, which included DiSanto, Gehrig, Noah Basista ’24 and Drew Greene ’27.
Swim and Dive has a week off before they compete in the Patriot League Championships on February 21-25, hosted by Navy.
