Marco Conati
Marco Conati on his way to a Haldeman Pool record in the 100 fly (48.46)
Posted: Dec 07, 2019

CMS Men's Swimming and Diving Defeats Pomona-Pitzer 193-160 in Two-Day Dual

CLAREMONT, Calif. - Junior Marco Conati won both the 100 freestyle (45.99) and the 100 butterfly (48.46), setting a new Haldeman Pool record in the fly, as the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's swimming and diving team finished off a two-day dual win 193-160 over Pomona-Pitzer on Saturday afternoon.

The win improves CMS to 4-1 in dual competition this season and 4-0 in the SCIAC after knocking off the defending league champion Sagehens. A year ago, CMS lost the dual to Pomona-Pitzer 203.5 to 149.5 and came in second in the SCIAC Championships. 

The second day started much how yesterday's first day ended, with a Haldeman Pool record falling, as the CMS 200 medley relay team finished in 1:29.90, with junior Andreas Roeseler finishing off the freestyle leg to win by 2.3 seconds and move the quartet into third place all-time at CMS. First-year Anderson Breazeale started it off with the backstroke, with sophomore Walter Limm and Conati handling the breaststroke and butterfly legs, respectively. 

Senior Dave Makhervaks gave CMS a win in the 100 back in 52.04, capturing the race by over two full seconds. Anderson Breazeale followed with a pool-record setting win in the 200 free in 1:39.44, the only swimmer to come in under 1:40, which puts him in fourth place all-time at CMS, just over one second behind the school record of 1:38.35 (with four years to chase it).

Sophomore Walter Limm earned a victory in the 100 breast in 56.22, setting a personal best and moving him into second place all-time in program history, behind only school-record holder Gary Simon, who set the mark in 1997 with a 55.92. 

The 100 fly saw the Stags dominate with a 1-2-3 finish, as Conati picked up another individual win by finishing in just 48.46 in an event which saw him earn All-America honors last year, followed by first-years Nathan Luis and Thayer Breazeale in second and third.

Conati then won a much closer race in the 100 free, finishing in 45.99 in a three-way battle to the wall, just ahead of Andrew DeGiulio of Pomona-Pitzer (46.11) and Roeseler (46.13). Senior Ben Culberson had a great race in the 1650 against defending SCIAC Champion Paddy Baylis of Pomona-Pitzer, but was edged over the last 100 yards 15:49.57 to 15:52.23. 

The final event of the day saw CMS take the 400 free relay in 3:01.26 to set another pool standard, with Roeseler swimming the final leg to victory for the second time on the day, in a time which ranks fourth in CMS history.

CMS will be back in action after the new year when participates in the Cal Baptist Distance Meet on Friday, Jan. 10 before heading to La Verne for a SCIAC meet on Saturday, Jan. 11.