The Oberlin College Swimming and diving squads lost to their NCAC rival Wittenberg University on the afternoon of Nov. 12. The Women’s team lost 134-99, while the men fell 121-85.

Despite their defeat, the Yeomen had many accomplishments. They took top honors in five categories, two of which were won by senior Thomas Limouze. Limouze finished the 200-yard butterfly in 2:10.47 and took the 500-yard freestyle in 5:12.76. Senior Craig Betchart, who according to sophomore John Hugens has “been carrying the team on his shoulders lately,” finished first in the 100-yard freestyle with a final time of 50.66, a mere three-hundredths of a second in front of the runner-up.

The last individual event was won by first-year Scott McInerney. McInerney finished the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 23.22. The 400-yard free relay team won first with a time of 3:28.97. The team included McInerney, Betchart and Hugens along with first-year Mark Muthersbaugh. Hugens lowered his season best times in both 100- and 200-yard backstrokes.

Reflecting on the men’s side Hugens said, “I think the men’s team is progressing well and starting to gel as a group. Even without our primary men’s breaststroker, first-year Sean Bernfeld, we were able to stay competitive against a very deep Wittenberg team. We are better than they are individually, but they were deeper as a whole.”

The Yeowomen also had a good performance on Saturday with three first place finishes. “We’re definitely growing as a team in terms of numbers but also in finding our individual niches as swimmers. It is pretty amazing that after not winning a single dual meet for more than five years, the women won two in a row,” junior Emily Spence said.

Two of the first-place finishes were individual performances. Sophomore Maura Selenak completed the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:37.29. First-year Erin Straight finished the 500-yard freestyle with a winning time of 5:57.85. The 400-yard freestyle relay won the final category with a time of 3:53.33. The group was comprised of first-year Bryne Ulmschneider, Spence, first-year Kirsten Selert and first-year Ploy Keener. Their finishing time was almost nine seconds faster than that of Wittenberg University.

Head Coach Mark Fino said, “The men and women swam well for what was expected of them. We train for our conference meet in February, and the results reflected that training.”

The Oberlin College swimming and diving teams look forward to competing with newfound energy for the rest of the season.