The men’s swimming and diving team traveled to Washington, D.C. on Saturday to face off against Georgetown in its season opener. Although the Wildcats took home the win in three individual events, they fell short to the Hoyas, 182-112. The Wildcats fell to 0-1 on the young season, while the Hoyas improved to 4-0.

The women’s swimming and diving team also competed against Georgetown this weekend in Washington D.C. They defeated the Hoyas by a score of 154-137, with seven different athletes winning at least one individual event to give the women’s team a record of 1-0 on the young season. 

Although falling short overall, Villanova posted 14 individual top-three finishes, demonstrating a strong start to the season. Junior Kevin Geist, junior Reid Hutcherson and sophomore Nolan Danus won the 100 fly, 200 free and 200 fly, respectively.  

Geist finished his 100 fly with a time of 51.08. Also placing in the 100 fly was junior Ryan Maher, who finished in third place with a time of 52.95, and senior Jesse Marsh, who finished in fourth place with a time of 53 seconds flat. 

Further in the butterfly races, Danus dominated the 200 fly with a time of 1:53.93. He outswam Geist in this race, who placed in third with a time of 1:54.51, along with junior Stephen Griner, who finished seconds after Geist in fourth place with a time of 2:02.94. The 100 and 200 fly races secured 28 of the total 182 points for Villanova. 

Butterfly was not the only stroke the men’s team was able to dominate. Hutcherson led the squad in the 200 free, securing a first place win with a time of 1:42.95. He followed this up with a third place win in the 100 free, with the time of 47.91. The junior did not stop there. Hutcherson went on to lead the 400 freestyle relay that ended up placing second with a time of 3:09.90. Also swimming in this event with Hutcherson were Maher, sophomore Charlie Hinckley and freshman Patrick Hemingway. 

Hemingway continued his success in the 50 free as the runner-up with a time of 21.66. Ethan Brown followed up Hemingway’s success with some of his own, adding a third place finish in the 100 back with a time of 52.81 and a fourth place finish in the 200 back. 

Furthermore, in the 200 IM, Danus finished in third with a time of 1:56.21 followed by Nolan, who came in fifth with a time of 1:58.93. Nolan went on to place third in the 200 breast with a time of 2:11.75, followed by freshman Henry Haberman, who placed fifth with a time of 2:14.10. 

Beyond the first place wins and high scoring in individual events, the men’s team scored highly in relays to rack up points. The team started its day with a 200 medley relay swam by Brown, sophomore Richard Nolan, Marsh and Hemingway. This quartet finished in third with a time of 1:35.26. 

Other notable times of the day came from Hinckley, who placed third in the 500 free with a time of 4:45.15 and fourth in the 1000 free with a time of 9:54.32. Junior Jake McIntyre also swam in the 1000 free, finishing in third place ahead of Hinckley with a time

of 9:49.70. Furthermore, freshman Carson Brockette finished third in his first meet with Villanova in the 200 back with a time of 1:55.17. 

The Wildcats are in action again this Friday at a men’s only meet against NJIT. The next women’s meet will be Wednesday, November 10th at 5:00 PM at the Villanova Swim Complex on campus.