Men's Team Second Semester Summary

Men's Team Huddle.

The Bantam's returned from Florida with a full schedule of meets. Over a two week period the Bantams had five competitions against seven teams. It was an action packed two weeks with lots of fast swimming and some great competition. The men came away from the five meet, seven match up spread, with a solid 4-3 record and lots of regular season and personal best times. 

During the marathon schedule of meets the men had wins against Vassar, Brandeis, Wesleyan, and Colby, and losses at Wheaton, Connecticut College, and Bowdoin.

Wheaton College
Trinity freshman Nick Celestin won the 200 freestyle and junior co-captain, Mark Yanagisawa finished second in the 1000 freestyle, and followed that with a first place finish in the 200 IM, and another in the 200 butterfly.  Celestin picked up another first place finish later in the afternoon, in the 200 backstroke. Coach Noone was pleased with the men's performance, “I thought our men’s team did a good job, especially being down a few men due to injuries. They had some significant time drops today coming off of our training trip, and that is a good sign for our upcoming meets as they become more rested.”

Vassar College
Just a day after the Wheaton meet Junior co-captain Mark Yanagisawa won all three of his individual events to lead the visiting Trinity College Bantams to a 117-95 victory over Vassar College. Yanagisawa won the 1,000 freestyle, the 200 IM, and the 100 butterfly, while classmate Max Ma took first place in the 100 freestyle and the 100 breaststroke.  Trinity first-year Nick Celestin won both the 200 freestyle and the 100 backstroke and teamed with Ma, junior Alex Zhang  and sophomore Alex Kurose to win the meet-opening 200 medley relay.  Celestin's time of 25.04 in the 50 backstroke leg of the relay set a new Bantam record in the event, breaking a two-year old mark held by Andrew Boynton.

Brandeis College
First-year Nick Celestin won three events and junior Max Ma won twice to lead the Trinity College Bantams to a 159-102 victory over Brandeis University. Coach Noone was pleased with the men's performances as she said, "Our teams are in great shape right now coming off of a rigorous winter break schedule. We had lots of lifetime best times today, and that really tells the story of what a great position we are in at this point in the season. Our divers are really stepping it up, and I can't wait for NESCAC Championships to watch some great performances." The Bantams finished first and second in the 200 medley relay to open the meet with a 15-2 lead, and coasted from there.  Ma won the 100 breaststroke and the 200 breaststroke, and Celestin won the 100 backstroke, the 200 backstroke, and the 400 IM.  Junior diver Mac McCarthy had two lifetime best scores on the one- and three-meter diving events and Celestin's 400 IM time was a lifetime best.

Bowdoin, Colby, Wesleyan
The Trinity College Bantams edged both Colby College and Wesleyan University in a quad meet at Bowdoin College.  Trinity topped Colby, 149-144, and Wesleyan, 140-139, while losing to the host Polar Bears, 198-87. With the wins the men improve to 5-4 in dual meets. First-year Nick Celestin won the 100 and 200 butterflies with lifetime-best times, and new team record times of 51.90 and 1:55.39, respectively.  He also earned a lifetime-best time of 1:47.39 in the 200-yard freestyle.  Junior diver Mac McCarthy contributed big points with two first-places against Wesleyan and a first and second place against Colby.  Junior Max Ma and junior co-captain Mark Yanagisawa finished first and second, respectively, in the 200 IM to secure team wins against both Wesleyan and Colby. Coach Noon had this to say about the meet, “Our men had great meets to get wins against Wesleyan and Colby. Every race mattered from first to fifth place.  We had enough depth to get the job done.”