On Wednesday, Nov. 12, the Villanova men’s swimming and diving team defeated Rider in a home swim meet, 166-132.
The Wildcats (3-1) picked up their second-consecutive win of the early season. They secured 10 event wins, in addition to achieving 27 top-three finishes throughout the night. Rider (1-3) picked up six wins and a Villanova pool record in the 100-yard breaststroke.
The meet started with Villanova divers, senior Chris Jones and junior Nate Warson, competing in both the one and three-meter events.
Warson took first place in both events, earning a combined 18 points for the Cats, with scores of 319.50 and 343.80. Jones, placing third in both, brought a combined six points, with scores of 274.35 and 311.55.
“Having both [events] upfront was kind of interesting because [we knew where we] were,” Villanova head coach Rick Simpson said. “I think it was a nice bolt of energy for our guys to get through both of these events.”
Moving into the distance events, Rider took first place in the opening event, the 200-yard medley, with its A team coming in at 1:30.98.
Following the medley was the 1000-yard free event, which Villanova swept. Sophomore Owen Nye took first place, junior Brady Tierney took second and senior Patrick Casey took third.
In addition to the 1000-yard freestyle, Nye also took first place in the 500-yard freestyle race.
“I feel like it was a constant growth with him,” Simpson said. “He is continuing to develop and grow, and these are the types of athletes that a coach in our sport loves.”
Freshman Hugh Boris’ time of 2:00.29 set a new pool record in the 200-yard breast stroke and was two-hundredths of a second away from breaking the school record. The current program record, 2:00.26, was set in 2021 by Richard Nolan.
“I would describe him as one of our most impressive, high-quality recruits to commit to our program,” Simpson said. “So, if you can imagine two-hundredths of a second, you cannot even see that with your eyes. That is how close he was to actually being the fastest breast stroker to ever come through the program…I think we would all be shocked if he is not the record holder by the end of next week.”
Boris also placed second in the 100-yard breaststroke, with a time of 55.71.
“To put it into perspective, you know how good that kid [as a] freshman right now, by this time next week, he is probably going to be the fastest in the history of the program in [the 200-yard breaststroke] event,” Simpson said.
Rider senior Billy Ruddy set a new pool record in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 55.34. Boris was behind him in second, and Rider junior Maxwell Connelly took third with a time of 56.17.
Junior Justin Nowicki placed first in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 1:50.42, with freshman Michael Anderson finishing behind him in third with a time of 1:53.75.
Later in the meet, Villanova swept the 200-yard individual medley, with junior Max Christensen taking first place with a time of 1:53.03, Nowicki placing second with a time of 1:54.94 and freshman Carter Gray finishing third with a time of 1:56.53.
While the Wildcats held a steady first-place overall presence over Rider, the two teams consistently switched back and forth in individual podium finishes.
To conclude the meet, the Wildcats took second and third place in the 400-yard freestyle relay. Villanova’s A team, composed of Sam Randall, Zach Sutter, Gavin Jones and Gavin Peck, ended second with a time of 3:06.99. Villanova’s B team, composed of Henry Gingrich, Brian Farrell, Nye and Kaden Elkovitch, finished in third with a time of 3:09.53.
Up next, the men, as well as the women’s team, will now travel to Maryland to compete in the Naval Academy Invitational hosted by Navy on Nov. 20-22.
