Applebaum, Lang, Griffith Win Events on Opening Day for CMS Men's Swim and Dive
SAN DIEGO, Calif. - The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's swimming and diving team opened its 2022-23 season at Division I UC San Diego and had a strong showing, including a 200 fly win from defending national champion Frank Applebaum, at the Canyonview Aquatics Center.
The Tritons ended up with a 181.5-113.5 victory over the Stags, who also saw a tight win by less than a second from returning All-American Lucas Lang in the 1000 free (9:35.74 to 9:36.30) and a one-meter diving victory from Jack Griffith, who had 259.50 points.
Applebaum won the national title in the 200 fly last year by setting a new NCAA Division III record with a 1:44.01, and started his new campaign with a 1:52.74, which was good enough to win the race by a half-second over teammate Henrik Barck. The 1-2 finish was the top showing for the Stags in any swimming event on the day, with Tyler Headley also picking up two points with a fourth-place finish. Applebaum was also second in the 100 fly in 51.16 seconds, while Barck added another runner-up in the 400 IM in 4:06.75.
The Stags also had a similar 1-2-4 finish in the one-meter dive, when Griffith was followed by Ethan Sattley in second and Ben Smith taking fourth. Gaylord added a runner-up in the three-meter, with Sattley coming in third.
CMS opened the meet with a 1:34.62 in the 200 medley relay with Anderson Breazeale, Evan Deedy, Frank Applebaum and Theo Johnson taking the back, breast, fly and free legs, respectively. Korin Aldam-Tajima had a strong first swim in the 100 back, taking second place in 51.90, finishing just .06 ahead of third-place Shane Burns of UC San Diego.
Theo Johnson tied for second in the 50 free with a time of 21.62, and Steven Tran added a runner-up finish in the 200 breast in 2:07.57. Jeremy Tan, Eric Workman, Breazeale and Johnson finished off the meet with a 1:26.34 in the 200 free relay.
CMS will be back in action on Nov. 5 when it travels to Occidental for its SCIAC opener.