GETTYSBURG, Pa. – The Bryn Mawr swim team got their season opened earlier Saturday afternoon with a Centennial Conference quad meet at Gettysburg. Despite facing some stiff competition made up of swimmers from three other schools, the Owls made plenty of noise at the meet, picking up several event wins along the way.
Bryn Mawr picked up the first win of the 2021-22 swim season right out of the gate in the first individual event of the meet program thanks to a tremendous 1000 freestyle from Teagan Rooney. The first-year claimed the top spot in the event, posting sub-34-second splits in all but two of her laps to outrace the field and win by over ten seconds over the next closest finisher. Her time of 11:06.96 is the fourth-fastest 1000 freestyle in recorded BMC swimming history, and it is also the fastest time in the Centennial Conference to this point in the season.
The first-year was not done after that though. Rooney came right back in the very next event and took sixth place. Her time of 2:01.88 in the 200 freestyle is also the sixth-fastest in that event in Owls history as well. Rooney would get a bit of a break from there before posting one more special showing in the 200 breaststroke. There, Rooney finished in third place overall, and her time of 2:33.39 is also the third-fastest 200 breaststroke performance in Owls history.
Kelly Peterson also put together a special showing in her season-opener. The Owls junior claimed the victory in the 200 butterfly, winning the event by over two seconds with a time of 2:15.40. Peterson also went on to take seventh in the 100 fly (1:03.33) and swam as part of Bryn Mawr's top 400 free relay team.
Vivian Sandifer also had an impressive day for the Owls, most notably in the 1000 freestyle. The sophomore added her name to the top times in Bryn Mawr history as well, taking fourth in the event with a time of 11:30 flat. That mark is the tenth-fastest 1000 free in Owls swimming history. Sandifer also took eighth in the 500 free with a time of 5:36.72.
Several other Owls posted top 10 finishes on the day in the packed meet. Maya Schneider got her senior season off to a solid start, taking seventh in the 100 backstroke. Fellow Owl Paige DiFronzo took tenth in that same event. Later, fellow first-year Kit Briggs claimed ninth in the 100 breaststroke. Rachel Adlai-Gail took tenth in the 200 fly alongside Peterson, and first-year Melanie Golden claimed tenth in both the 50 free and 100 free. Schneider came back for another seventh-place finish in the 200 backstroke, followed closely behind by DiFronzo in eighth. Briggs joined Rooney in the 200 breaststroke, finishing eighth in that event, and sophomore Nyah Hartwell took fifth place in the 500 free. Schneider and DiFronzo would get repeat seventh- and eighth-place performances a little later, this time in the 200 IM.
The Owls' A relay squads took sixth in both the 200 medley (Maya Schneider/Kit Briggs/Kelly Peterson/Melanie Golden – 1:58.49) and 400 free relays (Teagan Rooney/Katrina Brazhnikov/Kelly Peterson/Melanie Golden - 3:55.36) to open and close the meet.
Bryn Mawr will now get a couple weeks of training in before their next meet, which will be their 2021-22 home opener. The Owls will return to action in the Schwartz Center by taking on Ursinus College on Friday, November 5, with that meet set to start at 6:00 PM.
