PASADENA, Calif. (Jan. 29, 2022) - Freshman Max Oberg (The Woodlands, Texas / The Woodlands College Park) went toe-to-toe with some of the conference's best competition and came away with wins in all three individual events on a cautiously successful day for No. 24 men's swim & dive hosting No. 12 Pomona-Pitzer Colleges on a long Saturday.
Coming off their toughest stretch of the season between keeping yardage high while also competing weekly throughout January, Caltech's fatigue showed as few top times were posted, though most races were swam competitively to bode well for the impending SCIAC Championships in fewer than three weeks. The Sagehens benefitted significantly from 32 free points in diving, with Caltech's options unavailable to compete on the day. The event was the first ever dual meet held on the Caltech campus between nationally ranked opponents.
Caltech also recognized its graduating seniors in their final home meet - Thomas Barrett (Chatham, N.J. / Chatham) and Rafael Santiago (Manila, Philippines / Philippine Science).
Oberg posted a dominant 36-second victory in the 1000-yard Freestyle, followed by a narrow touch-out by .08 in the 50 and a clear 100 Fly win. He also swam the fastest flat start 100 Free of the day to lead off the 400 Free Relay that finished a close second in a very respectable midseason 3:07.
The Beavers opened up their day with a second-place finish in the 400 medley relay, with the team of sophomore Naci Keskin (Istanbul, Turkey / Robert College of Istanbul), freshmen Jason Lin (Los Angeles, Calif. / Taipei American School) and Pierre Zeineddin (Gaithersburg, Md. / Richard Montgomery) and sophomore Christopher Pukszta (Irvine, Calif. / Northwood) posting a 3:31.22 time. Zeineddin later picked up an easy 200 Fly win, while Lin notched his typical Breast double. He joined classmate Evan Zhang (Great Falls, Va. / Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology) to go 1-2 in the 100 before separating with authority on the final 50 of the 200 to win by a minute. Zhang also posted a season-best 100 Fly time by .28.
Sophomore Leo Yang (Blacksburg, Va. / Blacksburg) placed a close second in both the 200 Free (.49) and 400 IM (in a solid 4:09.28), leading at the 150 mark in the former before just getting caught down the stretch. Pukszta provided the other big highlight of the day with a game 500 Free to place another close second.
Head Coach Andrew Brabson and the Beavers will enter the early stages of their championship taper as they look ahead to their final, typically less intense, dual meet on Feb. 5 at the University of La Verne.
