FAIRFIELD, CT – The last meeting between the Iona College men's swimming and diving team and Fairfield University was a highly contested meet - although it occurred more than 13 months ago, the memory of the Stags winning at the Hynes Pool was still strong for many on the Iona team.
With more than three quarters of the 2020 rosters competing for both teams, this meet had a high level of intensity for the men, as both groups hit the racing lanes for the first time this season.
Both Iona head coach
Nick Cavataro and former Iona assistant and now fourth-year head coach at Fairfield,
Anthony Bruno, agreed to have the men race in "tech" suits for optimal speed. The results were more than a dozen pool records. However, Iona turned the tables on the Stags, posting a 162-122 win, while setting 10 pool records at the Fairfield Rec Plex 25-meter complex.
"Our senior leadership with co-captains
Gabriel Finch and
Spencer Moran, along with their classmates
Conor Mullin and Rob Wisniewski really wanted this win today and their desire and enthusiasm were awesome," commented Cavataro.
Similar to Saturday's women's meet, the Iona men battled back after a three-event, 33-4 point deficit provided by a strong group of Fairfield divers and strong Stags' 200-meter medley relay win.
Freshman
Michael Faughnan made his debut for the Gaels in convincing fashion, posting a pool and Iona record in the 800-meter freestyle at 8:15.67. The 6-foot-5-inch Hopewell Junction native later duplicated the victory and records in the 400-meter freestyle at 4:03.59 and swam the opening leg on the pool and team record 400-freestyle relay, where he combined with Mullin, Moran and
Daniel Hadary to win by .58 seconds over the Stags at 3:29.96.
Moran touched first in the 100 and 200-meter backstroke with respective pool and team record times of 57.37 and 2:05.75. Mullin took the 100 and 200-meter butterfly with pool and team records of 55.64 and 2:03.76, respectively. Single winners for the Gaels included
Emil Bajramovic with a pool and team record in the 100-meter breast at 1:05.37 and Hadary in the 200-free at 1:54.21 for a pool and team record.
Picking up valuable second place points were Bajramovic (200-breast); Finch (200-back); freshman
Matthew Loftus (100-breast) and
Jalen Ramjohn (100-fly, 200-fly and 200-IM).
The Iona men will return to action on Tuesday, March 30, when they host the Stags at Hynes in a two-session 18-event invitational format meet. It will also serve as senior day for the Iona men.
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