On Saturday, Feb. 1, the men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams attended the Navy Invitational, their last meet before the Patriot League Championships. The Bison had strong performances, winning eight individual events and two relays between the men and women. Delaware, Holy Cross, Lafayette, Lehigh, Navy and Shippensburg completed the field of competitors.

Maddie Hartigan ’22 was successful as she placed eighth in University history with a time of 2:04.49 in the 200 butterfly. Emily Gorham ’21, Maggie Wyngowski ’21, Megan Koczur ’21, and Rachel Hazard ’21 made up the 200 freestyle relay and 200 medley relay teams, winning with times of 1:36.92 and 1:48.68, respectively. Sabrina Vumbacco ’23 also won on the day and made school history. She clocked a time of 16:38.65 in the 1650 freestyle, winning the event with the third best time in University history.

Hartigan spoke to what the team will need to do before Patriot Leagues in two weeks. “Our team will spend the next two weeks preparing for the Patriot League Championship by refining our racing technique.  Swimming is not just a physical sport but a mental one too. We need to be physically ready to race and mentally ready to succeed,” Hartigan said.

Other winners were Gorham in the 50 freestyle, Nick Haddad ’22 in the 200 backstroke, Matt McGoey ’20 in the 100 freestyle and Megan Phelan ’23 in the 200 backstroke.

The Bison will have two weeks to prepare before they compete again at the Patriot League Championships on Feb. 19–22. They will return to the Naval Academy’s Lejeune Hall for this event.