CMC75 Moments: 2020 Men's Swim & Dive Edges Pomona-Pitzer for SCIAC Title
As part of the buildup to the 75th Anniversary celebration for Claremont McKenna College (visit CMC's 75th Anniversary Countdown Page to learn more), we are reliving many of the great moments from CMS athletic department history over the 75-day countdown from April 17 to July 1. If you were a part of this great moment and would like to add to the memories, or if you would like to submit your memories of your own favorite CMS Athletics moments, fill out the form on our main 75th Anniversary page.
Great Moments from 75 Years of Athletics
2020 Men's Swim and Dive: Stags Edge Out Pomona-Pitzer for Dramatic SCIAC Title
CLAREMONT, Calif. - The 2020 CMS Men's Swimming and Diving team spent the whole four-day SCIAC Championships jockeying for the top spot in the team standings with Pomona-Pitzer, and ended up edging out the Sagehens by just 14 points for its first SCIAC title since 2017.
The championship was a team effort, as CMS didn't get to the top of the podium in very many individual events, but earned lots of personal-best swims and highest SCIAC finishes to pick up key points along the way. Senior diver Kendall Hollimon got CMS off to a good start by sweeping the two diving events the week prior at Axelrood Pool, capping off a career in which he went 8-for-8 winning SCIAC titles and earning All-America honors six times.
The Stags also started out the swimming portion of the competition with a win in the 200-yard medley relay, as Anderson Breazeale, Sam Willett, Marco Conati and Andreas Roeseler won in SCIAC record time. Conati then repeated as the champion in the 100 fly on the third day, but those were the only events that the Stags won over the four-day meet.
The list of All-SCIAC performers was long, though, as Breazeale reached the podium three times with two second place finishes and a third. Sean Hoerger and Henry Limm were second and third in the 200 breast, Walter Limm finished third in two events, Ben Culberson was third in the 1650, Dave Makhervaks was third in the 100 back, Nathan Luis was third in the 100 fly, Ben Smith was third in the 400 IM, adn Roeseler was third in the 50 free.
After the COVID-19 pandemic canceled the NCAA Championships, seven Stags earned All-America honors: Breazeale (200 back, 200 medley relay, 400 medley relay, 400 free relay), Conati (100 fly, 200 medley relay, 400 medley relay, 400 free relay), Hollimon (1-meter dive, 3-meter dive), Walter Limm (400 medley relay), Luis (400 free relay), Roeseler (200 medley relay, 400 medley relay, 400 free relay) and Willett (200 medley relay).
Andreas Roeseler:
I remember there wasn't as much pressure about winning as there had been. I remember my freshman year, the team had a winning streak that went back 10 years and it was intimidating to try and keep that going. We didn't want to be the ones to ruin the streak, and I think those thoughts got to us. I know they at least influenced me. I think we approached it with more excitement and didn't feel pressure from previous years since we lost. It felt like we had everything to gain and nothing to lose.
We were giddy with excitement going into that last race. We knew we were ahead and as long as we didn't DQ we would win, so everyone was jumping up and down and filled with energy. If you looked at us you couldn't tell that we just spent the last 4 days racing our hearts out and were exhausted.
My favorite memory has to be the post meet meeting after we won SCIACs. We get pizza delivered and sit as a clump on the stairwell and people shout out other teammate's great swims or dives that happened during the meet. Lounging all over the place, eating pizza, and complimenting each other was the perfect ending to a fantastic meet.
Kyrellos Ibrahim:
I think reclaiming the SCIAC title was our top priority. We rarely really spoke about it out loud - I don't know if it was taboo or we were nervous about it, but everyone knew that this was our year and we were going to do everything we could to take back the crown.
Oh boy was it close. The score did not travel too far away from level during the first two days, with PP actually leading us going into Finals on Day 3. Personally, I have a bad habit of being obsessed with the numbers. I always kept track of how many A finalists and B finalists we have and they have on each given night. I run all the scenarios in my head and worry about what might happen and that tight margin made it all the more stressful. But, I have learned from my prior SCIAC meets. I have gotten much better at centering myself before my races and blocking out distractions.
I think it took a second to sink in, almost like it wasn't real. I had spent all week stressing about it, and we didn't know if we were going to win until Andreas dove in for the anchor leg of the last relay. After he finished I knew we had won. When they announced the scores, I knew we had won. When we took pictures on the podium, jumped in the pool, and had our team meeting, I knew we had won. It wasn't until I was on the bus did the feeling really hit me. It felt. So. Good. For 3 years, I wanted this championship so badly. All the sacrifices my teammates and I made during the season leading up to this meet had all the more worth - swimming with Janet Tran on the mornings we had Advanced Lab during practice, running with Mia Syme, destroying kick sets with Ben Culberson - it just all culminated into this rare and beautiful moment that I will never ever forget.
Sean Hoerger:
Earning a SCIAC title was our primary goal. It meant everything to our team.
From a personal standpoint, this was probably the best meet of my life. I went all best times, made the championship final in all my events, and even contributed on a few relays for the first time at CMS. I will always remember the 200 breaststroke final. Going into that event, the third to last in the whole meet, we were tied with PP. All five of our breaststrokers were in the final, compared to PP's two. We all brought our A game, everyone going season or lifetime best times and we outscored PP by 50 points in that event. Some clutch performances in the final two events held off PP and we ultimately won by 14 points.
Every year, the whole team gathers behind the blocks to cheer on the swimmers for the 400 freestyle relay, the final event. My first two years, cheering on our teammates has been a bittersweet end to the meet, as PP, victory in hand, has celebrated next to us. Last year, we flipped the script. The relay team only had to complete the race without getting disqualified and the championship was ours. While we stood there jumping and cheering, it began to sink in that we were SCIAC Champions. After the relay, the whole team was hugging each other and celebrating. It felt surreal to be honest. Everyone was smiling from ear to ear.
2019-20 CMS Men's Swimming and Diving Roster
Head Coach: Charles Griffiths
Diving Coach: Ivan Bondarenko
Assistant Coach: Juliet Suess, Scott Player, Renata Martinez
Andrew Bradjan (So., CMC)
Anderson Breazeale (Fy., CMC)
Thayer Breazeale (Fy., CMC)
Marco Conati (Jr., HMC)
Ben Culberson (Sr., CMC)
Kyle Fendorf (Jr., CMC)
Will Grassle (Jr., CMC)
Daniel Hayon (Jr., CMC)
Juan Diego Herrera (Jr., CMC)
Sean Hoerger (Jr., HMC)
Kendall Hollimon (Sr., CMC)
Abai Houser (So., CMC)
Kyrellos Ibrahim (Jr., CMC)
Kiubon Kokko (Jr., CMC)
Michael Lee (So., CMC)
Luke Lenhart (So., CMC)
Henry Limm (Sr., HMC)
Walter Limm (So., CMC)
Nathan Luis (Fy., HMC)
Dave Makhervaks (Sr., HMC)
Alex Moody (Sr., HMC)
Bradley Newton (Sr., CMC)
Andreas Roeseler (Jr., HMC)
Abel Sapirstein (Jr., HMC)
Ben Smith (Fy., CMC)
Nick Tan (So., HMC)
Alec Vercruysse (Fy., HMC)
Matthew Waddell (So., HMC)
Sam Willett (Sr., CMC)
John Wills (So., CMC)
Joe Zales (Fy., HMC)