With impressive performances from Jack Robinson ’17, Mitch Buccalo ’19, and Kyle Bloom ’18, the Bison brought their season to a close. The men’s swimming and diving team competed one last time for the season with an impressive sixth-place finish in a competitive pool in the ECAC Championships from Feb. 26-28 at Navy’s Lejeune Hall.

The Bison had a strong start on the first day by earning top performances and scoring big points in several events. Robinson swam a speedy time of 1:50.88 in the 200-yard IM, placing fifth out of 49 swimmers. His time is seventh best at the school. Teammate Buccalo trailed behind him in 15th place with a time of 1:53.78.

In the 400-yard medley relay, a team consisting of Chris Devlin ’18, Chadd Cummings ’19, Bloom, and Robinson placed sixth overall with a time of 3:21.18, trailing less than a second behind the fifth place team. This performance also earns them tenth on the University’s all-time record list. Other impressive performances include a seventh-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle relay by Steve Grune ’16, Bloom, Jack Rogers ’19, and Tom Gannon ’19. Divers Tyler Wenzel ’16 and Patrick Alvermann ’16 placed seventh and ninth, respectively, in the three-meter dive.

The Bison started the second day of competition in a strong seventh place with 87 points. The momentum of fast times continued in the pool with Louis Behnen ’17, Devlin, and Vincent Filippini ’19 placing second, fourth, and sixth in the 200-yard freestyle. The trio also was a part of the second-place 800-yard freestyle relay with Robinson. Their time of 6:37.10 ranks second in program history. Continuing with top 10 performances, James Elmendorf ’19 placed 14th in the 100-yard backstroke. His preliminary time of 50.60 ranks 10th overall in school history.

During the final day of competition the Bison contributed points in one relay and four individual events. In the 400-yard freestyle relay, Gannon, Filippini, Bloom, and Jack Rogers ’19 placed eighth with a time of 3:06.74. Out of the entire pool, they were the youngest overall relay, which shows a promising future for the school’s relay team. Sean Lyons ’17 had the best open performance of the day, placing 12th in the 1,650-yard freestyle, with a time of 16:18.18.

“I had a great run in the pool this weekend. Although it is not near the performance I had in past years, I did place higher than I did last year and put forth my best effort,” Lyons said. 

Although the Bison had incredible moments in the pool, they also excelled in the classroom. Three swimmers won the Academic All-Patriot League Team: Robinson, Behnen and Delvin. The Orange and Blue were tied with Navy with the most swimmers to win this award. The Bison look forward to next year in pursuit of topping the many impressive feats of this season.