Fairfield Swim and Dive looks forward to its meet on Saturday against Bryant University after dominating in the Fairfield invitational last weekend. Fairfield has high hopes for this season, with the team expected to finish first in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference this year, according to the preseason coaches’ poll.
The Stags will be at the Recplex Pool welcoming Bryant University on Saturday, with the Diving team starting at 10 a.m. and the Swimming team starting at noon.
Fairfield swam against Bryant last year at the beginning of the season, barely losing the meet 152-148. Some notable athletes for Bryant that Fairfield will have to look out for include senior Marcella Figueroa, who is strong in short-distance freestyle swimming and butterfly style.
Another strong swimmer for Bryant is senior Makayla Pearce, who is a long-distance swimmer. Additionally, for the men’s side, swimmers like senior Aidan Trenery, who is strong in the butterfly and individual medley, will pose a threat to Fairfield
On the diving side of the team, senior Christopher Buonocore leads the team in both 1m and 3m diving. Meanwhile, on the women’s side, junior Megan Beasley leads the team in both diving categories.
Fairfield opened up its season last weekend at the RecPlex Pool, winning in both men’s and women’s swimming in dominating fashion. This included a school record and a school standard, with first-year Natasha De Pree posting a 9:06.91 time at the 800m freestyle.
Sophomore Balazs Ament set the school standard in the men’s 200m breaststroke with a time of 2:17.66.
The diving teams performed well on Friday night, with the men’s team placing first and second in both 1m and 3m dives. The women’s team placed in the top three in both dives. They were up against Sacred Heart, Southern Connecticut State University and the University of Bridgeport.
The Stags had junior Andrew Catalado score first in both categories with 289.50 in the 3-meter and 234.35 in the 1-meter. Junior Tyler Robie finished 2nd in both dives with 190.70 points in the 3-meter and 202.90 in the 1-meter. Robie had this to say about the diving team’s success: “It set the standard and set the bar pretty high.”
The women’s diving team put up great scores as well, with junior Lillian Tonole finishing in third in both categories with a score of 215.35 points in the 3-meter and 207.35 points in the 1-meter dive.
The Stags resumed play Saturday at noon with the swimming team in action against Manhattan, SSCU and UB. The women’s team dominated the competition with 736 points. The men’s team also pulled away from the field with 707 points.
Fairfield is looking great this year, with Patalano saying their goal for the season was “to win the MAAC,” which looks feasible, especially with the arrival of new first-year talent, who Patalano described as “ really fast… with great energy”.