Yeomen Have Near Sweep At Baldwin-Wallace

The Oberlin men's swimming and diving team came within one event of sweeping Baldwin-Wallace in first place finishes Wednesday night.

This impressive feat helped the Yeomen blow Baldwin-Wallace out of the water, 141-92. The women's team lost in a close meet, 125-116.

A number of strong performances were turned in for Oberlin in the men's meet.

Senior co-captain John Limouze dominated every event he was in, winning the 1000 yard freestyle by nearly 30 seconds and the 200 yard fly by roughly 12.

The 400 yard medley relay team of Limouze and first-years Charles Treatman, Brook Whitmore and Burt Betchart also won when Limouze pulled even with the Baldwin- Wallace swimmer on the third leg of the relay and Betchart smoked his man in the fourth.

Senior co-captain Chris Dudley also turned in a solid performance, coming from behind to win the 500 yard freestyle. The 400 yard freestyle relay team of Dudley, senior Evan Cobb, junior Robert Stephens and sophomore Nathan Fey also won when Dudley, who was anchoring the team, caught his man and passed him in the last stretch. Dudley also placed third in the 200-yard freestyle.

"We are a smaller team right now, which hurts us in dual meets. We have two swimmers who will be joining us after January and that will make us a little more flexible," coach Dick Michaels said. "The guys turned in an excellent performance across the board, especially Treatman and Betchart. They both have the ability to compete in any event, which helps the team because of the smaller numbers"

Treatman and Betchart dominated every event they entered. Both were part of the winning 400 yard medley relay team, while Betchart flew past contenders in the 100 and 200 yard freestyle and Treatman annihilated opponents in the 200 yard backstroke and the 200 yard individual medley.

Fey, who was the lead swimmer on the 400 yard freestyle relay team, outstretched his opponent at the wall, winning by an extremely close .07 seconds. He also placed third in the 100-yard freestyle.

Sophomore Todd Wedge finished third in the 1000 and 500-yard freestyle events.

Whitmore recorded a third in the 200-yard individual medley.

In the diving competition, senior Aaron Hillyer took first in both events while junior Jacob Schlesinger placed second and third in his first-ever diving competition.

"[Schlesinger] started diving at the end of last season in practice and this was good showing for him in his first meet," Michaels said.

The women's swimming and diving team faced a much improved Baldwin-Wallace team.

"We definitely outswam them in this match, but they placed 1,2,3 in diving and that hurt us," Michaels said.

Junior All-American Celeste Mercer was a triple winner, placing first in the 50, 100 and 200 yard freestyle events.

The Yeowomen's 400 yard medley relay team of senior Angelina Cabou, juniors Hannah Gottschall and Julia Handelman and first-year Nikki Middaugh took first while the relay team of senior Erin Livensparger, junior Jessica Vermeulen and first-years Meagan Dunphy-Daly and Morgan Garcia took third.

Middaugh also took first in the 200 yard breastroke and second in the 200 yard individual medley.

Sophomore Rania Khan took first in the 500 yard freestyle and second in the 1000 yard freestyle. Dunphy-Daly took third in the 500 free while first-year Karin Swanson took third in the 1000 free.

Gottschall picked up a second and third place, finishing second in the 200 yard backstroke and third in the 200 yard individual medley. Cabou also finished third in the 50-yard freestyle and Garcia second in the 200-yard fly.

With all that out of the way the match came down to the final relay of the day. Whoever won that, won the meet.

"Had I known the meet hinged on this relay I would have put Vermeulen on the 'A' relay team instead of the 'B'," Michaels said. "She had shoulder surgery in January and has been in rehab since then. She came to me eager to swim so I put her on the 'B' relay teams. She came out of the first relay ecstatic because she has swam well and her shoulder wasn't bothering her. If she has been on the 'A' relay team we won the meet."

Michaels went on to say that he didn't want Vermeulen to push her shoulder and risk injuring it again.

OC swimming and diving travels to Ohio Wesleyan tomorrow.