BRIDGEWATER, Va – The Bridgewater College men's swim team took down Virginia Wesleyan 141-47 in their home opener Saturday afternoon.
The Eagles opened their first of two home meets with an impressive showing in the 400-meter medley relay, claiming all three podium spots. The A relay, consisting of Christian Carroll, Zachary Erb, Kaleb Erb, and Andrea Cibrario, clocked a time of 3:58.13.
In the following event, the 100-meter individual medley, Colton White and Kris Schultz finished first and second.
Virginia Wesleyan took the top spot in the 200-meter freestyle with a time of 2:06.85, but Alessandro Nani followed with a time of 2:07.34. Frank Butler finished third.
The Eagles swept the podium in the 50-meter freestyle. Connor Cayer swam a 23:53 to finish at the top spot. Ben Beaudoin finished second with a time of 26:04, and Nate Herrman clocked a 26:42 to round out the podium. The Marlins took the fourth and fifth place spots to round out the scoring finishers.
Virginia Wesleyan's Cael Long edged out BC's Carroll in the 200-meter individual medley by four hundredths of a second, swimming a 2:17.38. Alex Bae finished third with a time of 2:23.09.
Bridgewater claimed the top two spots in the 200-meter butterfly. At the top spot, freshman Kaleb Erb swam a 2:15.54, setting a new program record for the event. Colton White finised second, clocking a 2:20.42. Niko Valente finished fourth with a time of 2:35.24.
Cayer followed his win in the 50-meter freestyle earlier by taking the crown in the 100-meter freestyle, recording a time of 56.23. Bae followed with a 57.20. Herrman finished fifth, rounding out the scoring finishers.
Zachary Erb finished first in the men's 200-meter backstroke with a time of 2:15.23.
In the 400-meter freestyle, Cibrario finished first with a time of 4:32.17. Beaudoin finished third with a time of 5:13.21. Holsinger finished fourth, clocking a time of 5:31.08.
Bridgewater finished 1-2-3 in the 200-meter breaststroke. Nani took first with a time of 2:29.98. Schultz swam a 2:39.49 to secure second, and Brian Kustowski finished third with a time of 2:48.78.
The Eagles ended the meet with a 1-2 finish in the 400-meter freestyle relay. The A relay, consisting of Cibrario, Eddie Klinko, Bae, and White, swam a 3:46.83 to claim 11 points for BC. The B relay, consisting of Butler, Cayer, Jack Lake, and Kaleb Erb, finished a few seconds behind the victors. Virginia Wesleyan's A relay rounded out the podium with a time of 3:53.18.
Bridgewater will compete at the Keydet Invitational, held at Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Va. The meet will run from Friday, Nov. 14 to Sunday, Nov. 16. This will be the final meet in the 2025 calendar year for the Eagles.
