ANNAPOLIS, Md - The long awaited return of the swimming season is officially upon us as Penn State swept Navy 172-128 for the mens, and 158-142 for the womens in their season opener at Lejeune Hall.
This marks the women's 13th consecutive victory, and the mens 7th overall win and first on the road since 2014 against the Midshipmen. This also makes for the first Penn State win under new leadership in Head Coach Hollie Bonewit-Cron.
“It feels tremendous to see this team really respond to the training that we’ve been doing over the course of just a few weeks, and I think that what they just did was a testament to their commitment and level of buy-in that they had when we arrived,” praised Bonewit-Cron.
Top Swims:
The infamous 200 Medley relay team that competed at the NCAA championships last season is back again, returning Cooper Morley, Mariano Lazzerini, Victor Baganha and adding Tylor Kim. The team posted a 1:28.71 time and second place finish for their first outing of the year.
Ryan Anslem recorded a second place finish in his first collegiate competition with a 9:26.27 time in the 1000 Free.
Eduardo Cisternas earned his first win of the year in the 500 Free with a time of 4:27.06, and touched second in the 200 Free with a 1:39.22 time.
Cooper Morley and Matthew Bittner touched first and third, respectively in the 100 Back, recording times of 47.83 and 49.10.
Filipe Pinheiro and Mariano Lazzerini raced for second and third in the 100 Breast, with their times separated by only three one hundredths of a second. Pinheiro touched second with a time of 54.72, immediately followed by the former Big Ten champion in Lazzerini in third with a time of 54.75.
Penn State took first and second in the 200 Fly, led by sophomore Alex Karahalis who touched first with a time of 1:49.64. Senior Sam Folger put up a strong performance to post a second place finish in the 200 Fly with a time of 1:49.91, only 27-onehundreths of a second behind Karahalis.
Sophomore Tylor Kim tallied his first individual victory of the season in the 50 Free with a time of 20.35, just over two tenths of a second behind his personal best.
Jack Harvey, Sean Honey and Cooper Morely post another 2-3-4 finish in the 200 Back. Harvey touched second with a time of 1:47.47, followed closely by Honey who posted a third place finish and a 1:49.24 time, and closed out by a fourth place finish by Morley with a 1:49.31.
Lazzerini took home his first win of the season in the 200 Breast with a 1:58.50 finish.
Caden Davis and Victor Baganha battled it out in the 100 Fly, with Davis touching first with a time of 48.78, immediately followed by Baganha in second with a 49:19 time.
The Nittany Lions earned their first podium sweep in the 200 IM with Karahalis coming in first with a 1:49.12, followed by Honey in second with a 1:50.26, and closed out with Toni Slavica in third with a 1:52.55.
Relays
The men got a strong start to the season with their 400 Free relay team starring Tylor Kim, Matthew Bittner, Mariano Lazzerini and Cooper Morley. The group touched first with a final time of 2:58.76.
The Nittany Lions also tallied a close second place finish in the 200 Medley relay with Cooper Morley, Mariano Lazzerini, Victor Baganha and Tylor Kim battling through to post a final time of 1:38.72, just one hundredth of a second behind Navy’s winning relay team.
Diving
The Nittany Lions’ Hayden Elliot tallied his first win of the season in the three meter competition with a score of 318.23, outscoring his closest competitor by over 20 points. Penn State’s Alex Reese and Isaiah Clerkley finished in fourth and fifth, with scores of 272.10 and 257.18, respectively.
Another 2-3-4 finish was in the cards for the Blue and White with a second place finish from Hayden Elliott who scored a 291.83, then followed by Alexander Reese in third with a 276.38, and closed out with Isaiah Clerkley who tallied a 269.03.
Winners
100 Back: Cooper Morley (47.83)
200 Fly: Alex Karahalis (1:49.64)
50 Free: Tylor Kim (20.35)
100 Free: Tylor Kim (43.90)
200 Breast: Mariano Lazzerini (1:58.50)
500 Free: Eduardo Cisternas (4:27.06)
100 Fly: Caden Davis (48.78)
200 IM: Alex Karahalis (1:42.12)
The Nittany Lions will go on a three-week hiatus before returning to McCoy Natatorium for their first home meet against Pitt.
For updates on Penn State Swimming and Diving, follow the team on Instagram @PennStateSwimDive and X @PennStateSwim!