A bright, sunny morning atop the Haldeman pool deck on Feb. 7 signaled the start to the Pomona-Pitzer Swim Invitational, the second encounter of the season between the Sixth Street rivals Sagehens and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. As the final meet before the SCIAC Championships, the event bubbled with excitement as athletes from both teams chatted and cheered.
“This is the last meet before SCIACs, so it’s a good opportunity to have one more head-to-head with Pomona-Pitzer before the end of the season,” Charlie Bollwerk CM ’26 said. “It’s more of a chill meet. Everyone suits up and goes fast, but it’s more fun [and] relaxed compared to the P-P meet [earlier on Dec. 6].”
The meet is unscored, meaning athletes competed purely to achieve a time that could qualify them for the SCIAC tournament. Even so, the P-P men’s team showed out with multiple wins. Notably, the 200-yard free relay team of Casey Jacobs PO ’27, Jonathan Cong PO ’28, Diego Hodge PO ’28 and Adrian Clement PO ’26 cemented a new program record of 1:20.20.
“This meet doesn’t matter as much as SCIACs, so our coach told us to push the sauce a little bit just to see what we can do and what we’re comfortable with,” Captain Lan Zhu PO ’26 said.
Following suit, the P-P women’s team finished with multiple wins, highlighted by a new school record of 1:32.39 in the 200 free relay. The Sagehens’ team consisted of Sabrina Wang PO ’26, Francesca Coppo PO ’27, Ellie Burkhardt PO ’29 and Chesna Pelka PZ ’26.
Though the CMS men’s team didn’t set any new records, they had strong individual performances; Kenny Eckel CM ’28 claimed first in the 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard individual medley, as well as leading CMS to victory in the 200-yard medley relay alongside Evan Deedy CM ’26, Jasper Shue CM ’29 and Sean Su HM ’28.
For the women, Madeleine Kan HM ’26 headlined a pair of wins in the 200-yard freestyle and 100-yard freestyle, securing the second and third fastest times in CMS program history.
The invitational also saw the return of P-P’s longtime tradition, the annual Non-Swimmers Relay, where members from outside the swim and dive community form teams and race against each other.
“I heard about [the race] from my friend who is on the swim team, and they asked me if I wanted to participate, and I was like, ‘Why the hell not?’” relay participant Jay Li PO ’29 said. “I think I did pretty well, considering I haven’t swam competitively in three to four years.”
The relay teams included members from P-P women’s water polo, 5C Club Swim, P-P women’s cross country, track sprinters as well as non-athletes like Li, giving the swim and dive team a chance to expand and connect through the joy of swimming.
“The best part is including people who are not in the team,” Zhu said. “It’s a small college that we go to, we have a lot of friends on other teams and [non-varsity athletes] as well. It’s just really fun to see the whole community come together. A lot of times you’ll have friends on every single relay team, and it’s cool to get everybody together and celebrate our senior meet.”
The invitational also served as a farewell to P-P’s graduating seniors. Zhu reflected that his initial dread of team practices grew into an appreciation for the community as he climbed through the swim team ranks.
“I genuinely appreciate the small talks I have with individual swimmers,” Zhu said. “The times when you wouldn’t really think that you’re having a lot of fun, but when you really look back at it, it’s like, wow, I really enjoyed hanging out in the common room with the whole team. It’s stuff like that which I really will miss come next year.”
As the SCIAC Championships draw near, both teams are ready to build on their success from previous years. CMS has been successful on both the men’s and women’s front, with the men shooting for their seventh consecutive SCIAC title, while the women look to take control after finishing second to P-P last season.
“We’re excited for the SCIAC Championships,” CMS swim and dive head coach Charles Griffiths wrote via email. “The team is looking forward to swimming fast, diving well and bringing big energy to the meet.”
The P-P swim and dive team shares much of the same sentiment. The men’s team was only beaten last season by the CMS championship-winning squad and the women’s team narrowly clinched their second consecutive SCIAC title, defeating their opponents across the street.
“Yeah, we’re gonna kick ass,” Zhu said. “Pardon my French, our team looks great right now. There’s so much energy moving around between everybody, and we’re excited.”
P-P and CMS will start their SCIAC campaigns on Feb. 18 at the East Los Angeles College Swim Stadium.
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