THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. (Nov. 6, 2021) – Caltech men's and women's swim & dive picked up a pair of victories in their first dual meet since February 2020 with 151-118 and 158-117 scores, respectively, while notching two new program records.
Head Coach Andrew Brabson's new-look squad featuring 33 Beavers making their Caltech debut overwhelmed the Kingsmen and Regals, claiming wins in 20 of 30 events, including a run of seven straight to completely turn the momentum before the halfway point of the meet.
Sophomore Leo Yang (Blacksburg, Va. / Blacksburg) set a new program record in his first collegiate swim, touching seven seconds under the previous 1000-yard Freestyle mark, while rookie Catherine Deng (San Jose, Calif. / BASIS Independent) capped her four-swim meet with a new mark in the 200 IM in a six-second victory. The Beavers achieved 37 total program Top-10 times across the pair of sound victories despite entering the weekend in the midst of intense training as they enter the final weeks of the Fall term, after which they will have several weeks off from organized practice before returning to the pool during Winter Recess.
The meet opened with a heartbreaking thriller of a men's 400 Medley Relay, with the Beavers getting out-touched by just .20 despite freshman Max Oberg (The Woodlands, Texas / The Woodlands College Park) chasing down a two-second deficit on the anchor leg to post a brilliant 45.55 freestyle split. The women's Medley had an easier go of things with a six-second victory before Yang nabbed his program record in the 1000, notably splitting his last 50 more than 2.5 seconds faster than his average pace. Oberg came back soon after to win the 200 Free, narrowly beating out teammate sophomore Christopher Pukszta (Irvine, Calif. / Northwood) for the 1-2 finish behind another blazing final split.
A pair of CLU victories threatened to sap the momentum, but sophomore Vivian Zhang (Green Brook, N.J. / Watchung Hills Regional) broke up what would have been a four-race streak with a string 100 Back win. Rookies Jason Lin (Los Angeles, Calif. / Taipei American) and Evan Zhang (Great Falls, Va. / Thomas Jefferson) got as realistic a look at college swimming as possible, facing a two-time All-America who would have swum three age groups ahead of them at the club level yet performing gamely for a key 2-3 finish.
Caltech kicked off its run from that point as first-year Charlotte Zhang (San Diego, Calif. / Torrey Pines) claimed a win in the 100 Breast, followed by a huge 200 Fly race between freshman Pierre Zeineddin (Gaithersburg, Md. / Richard Montgomery) and five-time All-America fifth-year senior Andreas Nybo. The rookie quickly found himself a second behind the prohibitive favorite and even trailing another teammate before turning it on over the second half of the race, outsplitting the field by a full 1.5 seconds over the final 50 to touch just .34 ahead of Nybo for the win. Deng carried the momentum from there with a win in the 200 Fly, followed by Oberg and sophomore Joy Shi (Rockville, Md. / Wootton) in the 50 Free and sophomore Naci Keskin (Istanbul, Turkey / Robert Coll. of Istanbul) and freshman Mila Hong (Palo Alto, Calif. / Saint Francis) in the 100. Vivian Zhang picked up another win in the 200 Back and Deng matched with a victory in the 200 Breast – notching the second-fastest time in program history – with Yang and Charlotte Zhang also doubling up in the 500 Free. Nybo got the better of a Zeineddin-less field in his trademark 100 Fly and soon after enjoyed a bit of revenge by edging out Zeineddin in the 200 IM by .20, this time saving something for the final stretch himself to split .77 faster than the rookie on the freestyle leg.
Deng became the day's only three-event winner, claiming her record in the women's 200 IM, while rookie Natalie Lee (Westfield, N.Y. / Union County Magnet) just prior earned the win in the 100 Fly. The meet concluded with the 200 Free Relay results flipped from the Medley finishes as the men blazed to more than a full-second victory. Caltech also benefitted from points on the diving side, with six-time Honorable Mention All-America graduate student Sam Solomon (Rockville, Md. / MIT) recording the best 1-meter score for Caltech in decades while junior Katherine Pan (Livonia, Mich. / Detroit Country Day) and freshman Yi Lin (West Haverstraw, N.Y. / North Rockland) each topped 100 for second and third place.
Sophomore Tao Zhang (Highlands Ranch, Colo. / Rock Canyon) was another Beaver to record Top-10 times in the 100 (eighth) and 200 Breast (ninth), while classmate Andrew Pasco (Haddonfield, N.J. / Bishop Eustace) and rookie Sam Small (Ringwood, U.K. / Ringwood) ranked sixth and 10th, respectively, in the 100 Fly. Pasco matched that ranking in the 200 Fly alongside first-year Jake Goldman (Warrenton, Va. / Fauquier) in seventh, with sophomore Brea Swartwood (Mililani, Hawaii / Mililani) cracking the women's 100 Breast list.
Brabson and the Beavers will contest their first double-dual meet next weekend at Chapman and against Top-15 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges on Nov. 13.
