The Oberlin swim and dive team was extremely successful at its Midseason Invite, which took place at the Robert Carr Pool in Philips Gym and spanned three days. The Yeowomen took home first place, and the Yeomen placed second out of 12 competing teams. The team made 27 top 10 times, broke four school records, and set 60 personal records over the duration of the meet.

Starting off with the relays, first-years Leo Powers and Daniel Bocsi, with second-years Myles Felt and Isaac Viviano, broke the school record for the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1 minute, 33.42 seconds. Bocsi, Felt, and Viviano, joined by second-year Erik Fendorf, also broke the 400 medley relay record with a time of 3:25.10 — an astonishing six seconds faster than the previous one. Earlier this season, the same group placed third in program history in the 400 freestyle relay with a time of 3:09.81.

Members of the two medley groups also did well in their individual events. Bocsi ranked seventh in program history for the 100 breaststroke (59.44) and eighth for the 100 free (47.50), and Felt ranked second for the 100 backstroke (52.23). If Felt had not already made his mark as fourth in program history for 200 butterfly, his time at the invite (1:57.70) would have placed sixth on the record board. Powers ranked fifth for the 100 fly (51.78) and tenth for the 200 individual medley (1:59.52), and Viviano ranked second for the 100 breast (57.30) and sixth for the 200 I.M. (1:58.17). Additionally, Fendorf placed third in the 50 free (21.07), fourth in the 100 free (47.00), and broke a school record for the 100 fly with a time of 50.35.
Felt reflected on the team’s record-breaking performances.

“I think the [Midseason Invite] was the team’s breakout meet,” Felt said. “We all had incredible races, and you can see that the effort we’ve been putting in is finally getting shown. We crushed our old times and those relay records, but that’s definitely not our peak. I think we still have room to grow, and it’s exciting to see how far we can go.”

Felt, Fendorf, Viviano, and first-year Miguel Siwady ranked fifth in program history for the 800 free relay (7:07.29). Siwady also placed third for the 500 free (4:41.38), the 1000 free (10:00.16), and the 1650 free (16:30.75), and seventh for the 400 I.M. (4:16.34).
Fendorf believed that the meet showed how much improvement the team made within a year.

“I was excited for the Midseason Invite to get an idea of where our team was compared to last year,” he said. “I think overall, the team has grown tremendously since years prior, as shown through the amount of records and top times that were set. All the work that we’ve put in was showcased with how fast everyone swam, and I think it’s just the start for the team.”
Finally, second-year Finley Barber ranked ninth and eighth in the 100 and 200 breaststroke (59.97 and 2:11.57, respectively).

On the women’s side, second-years Ava Peyton and Elinor Frost, third-year Hannah Hale, and fourth-year Elly Ragone broke the school record for the 200 free relay with a time of 1:38.52. Hale, Frost, Ragone, and first-year Nyrobi Whitfield ranked 10th in program history for the 400 free relay (3:41.17), less than a second behind last year’s ninth-ranked time. Ragone, who earned North Coast Atlantic Conference Swimmer of the Week, raced the second fastest time on the 50 free (24.27) and placed ninth for the 100 free (54.20).
Head Swimming and Diving Coach and Aquatics Director Alex de la Peña was extremely proud of the team’s performance at the meet.

“It is a great sign for us going into the back half of the season,” de la Peña said. “After this meet, we push the reset button as we regroup and get ready to approach the back half of our season.”

Starting at the beginning of Reading Period, the swimmers and divers will have a break until they start training again in Florida over Winter Term. After the success of this meet, Coach de la Peña sees the calm before the storm.

“[We] want to give more flexibility to them during the tougher academic time periods and also give them some time to go home to spend [time] with family for the winter holidays,” de la Peña said. “In total, there are three weeks where we send workouts [for] them to do. This puts a lot of responsibility on their shoulders to continue to train if they want to see a successful back half of the year, but this is a hardworking and responsible group that cares deeply about the team performance as well as their individual performance. … We are also looking to continue to improve on their performances in the water and have great confidence we will see that happen in February!”