BRYN MAWR, Pa. – The Owls swim team faced off against Ursinus earlier Friday evening in their first home meet of the 2021-22 season. It was the first varsity home meet for the Bryn Mawr swim team since February of 2020, and the Owls sure made quite a splash in their return to action in their home waters. Bryn Mawr racked up several wins and four new top ten times in program history in what was a highly competitive matchup against their conference foes.
Teagan Rooney was back at it again for Bryn Mawr, with the first-year racking up another huge night for the Owls after her debut two weeks ago. Tonight, Rooney got things started with a win in the 400 IM, winning the event by almost 10 seconds. Her time of 4:43.64 was a new pool record, smashing the previous pool best of 4:49.01 set by Olivia Tierney of these same Ursinus College Bears back in 2017. That time was also the second-fastest 400 IM in Bryn Mawr swimming history, and the fastest since 1984. Later in the evening, Rooney would grab another win, this time in the 500 freestyle. Her time was good enough to beat out the next closest swimmer by almost six seconds, and it also proved to be the fourth-fastest 500 freestyle time in Owls history.
Katharine Briggs also had a strong night for Bryn Mawr, picking up a pair of second-place finishes. She opened the night by claiming second in the 50 freestyle with a time of 26.44. Then, she went on to take second in the 100 breaststroke, finishing just a second out of first place in that event. Briggs' time of 1:12.66 was the fourth-fastest 100 breaststroke in Bryn Mawr history.
The Owls got one more historic time on the night, and it came from yet another first-year in the 400 IM. Paige DiFronzo finished in fourth place in the event with a time of 5:01.31, which is the tenth-fastest 400 IM in program history.
There were plenty of other notable performances on the night for the Owls. Vivian Sandifer took second in the 200 freestyle with a time of 2:06.18, and she also earned a third-place finish in the 500 freestyle thanks to a time of 5:31.94. Kelly Peterson also raked in a second-place finish, taking the penultimate spot in the 100 butterfly with a time of 1:04.11.
Carson Griffin grabbed a couple of third-place finishes on the night, taking third in the 50 freestyle (27.02) and the 100 freestyle (1:00.33). Melanie Golden took third in the 100 butterfly (1:04.22), and Nyah Hartwell took third in the 200 freestyle (2:06.80). Also earning third-place finishes in events on the night were Maya Schneider (100 backstroke – 1:05.51) and Maggie Hernan (100 breaststroke – 1:20.56).
The Owls opened the meet with their A relay squad of Katrina Brazhnikov, Briggs, Golden, and Griffin teaming up to take third in the 200 medley relay. Then, the relay team of Rooney, Golden, Brazhnikov, and Peterson took second in the 200 free relay, setting a mark of 1:46.06 in the first time the Owls have swam the event this season.
With the results on the night, Ursinus just edged out the Owls by a 110-75 total in the team scoring. However, the Owls will be right back in action tomorrow for their first non-conference competition of the season. Bryn Mawr will look to get a pair of team wins when they travel over to Cabrini on Saturday to take on both the Cavaliers and visiting Elizabethtown College. Saturday's meet is set to start at 1:00 PM.
