Day 1:
During this past break, Men’s Swimming and Diving participated in Bucknell’s Invitational where the Bison clinched fifth place with six finalists to conclude the weekend. The team achieved numerous accomplishments and broke many records set by Bucknell alumni.
The weekend was filled with lots of accomplishments by the Bison. For the first day, Chris Kopac ’25 secured Bucknell’s highest finish of the day after placing fourth in the 500-yard freestyle. Kopac anchored the 200 freestyle relay and his team finished under a second outside the top-10 in team history. Justin DiSanto ’25, Dante Buonadonna ’28 and Colin Smith ’27 were the other three teammates who participated in the relay. Alex Crossing ’26 joined Kopac in the final after placing sixth in the 500-yard free.
Andy Dorsel ’25 and Buonadonna both reached the final in the 200 individual medley, and Buonadonna reached Bucknell’s top-10 lists for the first time as well. Dorsel placed fifth as the third-fastest swimmer in team history. Although Buonadonna placed eighth, his preliminary time was faster, which moved him to the No. 10 spot in team history, replacing Hall-of-Famer Jim Harvey.
Alongside his teammates, DiSanto had a very busy weekend as he placed eighth in the 50 free between leading off the 200 relay and anchoring the 400 medley relay. Caleb Hagadorn ’28, Will Hedges ’25, Finn Russell ’27 and DiSanto closed out the night by placing fifth in the 400 medley relay in 3:21.07. This was the conclusion of day 1.
Day 2:
Day 2 started off strong as Dorsel secured a first place finish in the 400 individual medley, swimming an impressive 3:54.78, which would have ranked eighth in Bucknell history if he hadn’t already owned the fourth-finest time. Buonadonna finished eighth and Riley Twiss ’27 finished third.
Bucknell 200 free record holder, Kopac, continued his career in the event after placing fifth, swimming a 1:39.03.
The Bison’s 800 freestyle relay team narrowly missed inclusion into the Bison top 10 by swimming 6:38.66, but the mark was good enough for fourth place on Saturday. Twiss, Kopac, Finn Franks ’28 and Damian Czartoryjski ’28 formed a solid quartet which almost topped the 10th-best time of 6:38.13.
Hedges broke into the top 10, placing seventh in the 100 breast to conclude the second day.
Day 3:
The final day ended with Kopac and Dorsel as the top finishers with a pair of fourth-place finishes. Kopac took fourth in the 1,650-yard freestyle and William Shoemaker ’26 was right behind him in fifth.
Dorsel secured himself a spot in the finals after competing back to back in the 200 breaststroke, finishing fourth and the 200 butterfly, finishing seventh.
Hedges accompanied Dorsel in the finals after finishing sixth in 200 breaststroke, along with Braden Beagle ’26, who placed eighth in the 200 backstroke, which qualified him for the finals as well.
DiSanto won the B Final, secured ninth-place points in the 100 free and later came back to anchor an impressive performance in the 400 free relay. Kopac, Buonadonna, Smith and DiSanto finished fifth in the meet-ending relay and their time of 3:00.25 ranks No. 7 in Bucknell history.
The Bison had a strong weekend after dominating their events to secure six spots in the final. The team showed grit and competitiveness that played to their advantage in having a successful weekend and displayed their athletic skills and capabilities.
“I think the team performed very well for where we are at in our training cycle. We had multiple races where people stepped up and won some tight races, and it made the meet really fun and competitive. Overall, it was a great mid-year checkpoint for us as we move forward in our season,” said Kopac.
