By Peter Neville, Contributor
The Canisius swimming and diving team failed to win in either the men’s or women’s section during their first home meet of the season at the Burt Flickinger Center. The men's team lost in a close contest of 152–145, while the women lost 168.5–128.5.
“We swam great; with the lack of divers, at this point we are starting the meet behind. In the swim portion of the meet the men came out on top and the women were four points behind, so we really raced well to get ourselves close,” said coach Vanderzell.
Despite the losses, the Griffs still had some standout individual performances at the tournament. On the men's side, junior Bronson Benes finished in first place during the men’s 200-yard butterfly event with a final time of 1:55.21, picking up nine points for the Griffins in event 12.
On the women's side, freshman Sarajo Gardner, senior Jordan O’Connor and junior Brenna McLaughlin took home first, second and third place, respectively, in the women's 100-yard backstroke, with final times of 1:00.21, 1:00.32 and 1:01.35, taking home 16 points for the Griffs in event 7.
“Our backstrokers have had a really strong start to the year,” said coach Vanderzell. “They are a group that thrives off of each other.”
The Griffs hit the road, as their next event takes place at the Patricia A. Saunders Aquatic Center at 1 p.m. in Vestal, NY, where the Griffs take on Binghamton. The Bearcats come into the meet sporting a 2–0 overall record on the season after beating Holy Cross and Bryant University in their first two scored meets of the season. The Bearcats have won the last 5 matchups against Canisius, dating back to 2018, and have a 7–2 all-time record against the Griffs.