LEWISTON, ME. – The Wesleyan men's swimming and diving team opened their season with a NESCAC matchup at Bates College with a first-place finish from
Mason Polaner '24 and several second-place finishes from
Harrison Hong '25 in a 221-59 loss on Saturday afternoon, Nov. 18, from Bates' Tarbell Pool.
The Cardinals topped the afternoon with a total of 21 Top 5 placements through 12 events against the Bobcats. Polaner had the lone victory on the day as he took first in the 500-yard freestyle event, clocking a final time at 4:56.26. In the 200-yard freestyle, Polaner tapped the wall at 1:46.34 to take second place.
Hong continued a solid pace for the Cardinals as he finished second in the 100-yard backstroke and the 100-yard butterfly. In the breaststroke, Hong clocked a final 53.02 and finished the afternoon with a 51.00 flat finish in the butterfly.
Daniel Isman '26 was the third Cardinal with a second-place finish, swimming a 2:03.65 in the 200-yard butterfly.
Ryan Kobayashi '25 finished behind Isman in third at 2:04.52. Isman also picked up a fourth-place finish in the 200-yard breaststroke with a 2:18.46.
Two fourth-place times went to
Fred Li '25 as he finished the 50-yard freestyle in 23.22 and finished just two spots behind Hong in the 100-yard butterfly.
Daniel Chan '27 was fourth in the 100-yard breaststroke with a final 1:03.77.
Kyle McGregor '24 placed fourth in the 100-yard freestyle, finishing at 51.12. McGregor also finished fifth in the 50-yard freestyle, 23.35. Taua Fitisemanu '24 capped the fourth-place finishes in the 200-yard backstroke with a final time of 2:11.41.
Rounding out the scoring for the Cardinals with fifth-place times were Harmut Doerwaldt '25 in the 1,000-yard freestyle (11:22.34),
Sekander Ali '24 in the 200-yard freestyle (1:53.71),
Cooper Mayo '26 in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:03.94),
Lucas Pirner '25 in the 100-yard backstroke (58.28) and the 200-yard backstroke (2:13.88),
Jeremy Kim '23 in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:18.57), Fritz Betrall '25 in the 100-yard butterfly (55.03), and
Nicky Wang '25in the 200-yard individual medley (2:07.11).
The 200-yard medley relay team of Hong, Mayo, Li, and Polaner took fourth with a 1:38.60. Hong, Pirner, Ali, and Polaner combined for a 3:19.06 in the 400-yard freestyle relay to take third as Chan, Doerwaldt, McGregor, and Mayo finished behind them in fourth with a final 3:26.93.
The Cardinals return to the pool on Monday, Nov. 20, when they host Amherst in NESCAC action beginning at 5 p.m. at the Webster Family Natatorium.
