WELLESLEY, Mass. -- The Wellesley College swimming and diving team had a dominating start to the 2012-13 season, posting 11 wins as host of the Betty Spears Relays on Saturday afternoon in Chandler Pool. The non-scoring meet featured athletes from Wellesley, Mount Holyoke, Smith, Tufts and Westfield State.
Wellesley touched first in 11 of the 12 relay events, backed by a strong core of returners and many promising first-years. The teams competed in a variety of unusual relay events, while also racing in solo "eliminator" events for each stroke.
Mount Holyoke was the only other team to record a win in a relay, with the Lyons also grabbing the top spot in two of the eliminator races. Tufts won the other two eliminators, while Smith swept the diving events.
The Blue's Dorothy Ren made the biggest splash of the day, breaking a 19-year old program record in the 100 IM. The rookie recorded a time of 1:00.94 as the leadoff in the 4x100 IM relay, guiding Wellesley's team to a first place finish. Ren shaved a second and a half off the Wellesley's second-oldest varsity record, surpassing Erin Fisher's previous best of 1:02.42 set in 1993.
Ren and fellow first-years Emily Sotomayor and Charlotte Harris all recorded five total relay wins. Junior Mariam Amirkhanashvili, sophomore Monica Gates, and first-year Ieva Galinyte all added four relay wins on the afternoon.
Also for Wellesley, junior Gabriela Kovacikova recorded wins in three relays, while junior Anne Hamilton, sophomores Kendra Waters and Tiffany Chen, and first-year Ceallach Gibbons picked up two wins each.
Rounding out the swimming accolades, sophomores Grace Bachman and Gabby Cooper-Vespa, and first-year Theresa Mitchell, all recorded relay wins.
Cooper-Vespa pulled double duty in today's meet, also competing in both the 1-meter and 3-meter diving events. On the 3-meter board she placed second overall with 213.80 points, while on the 1-meter board she took third with 220.25 points. Senior Kathryn Goffin also fared well in the diving events, placing fourth on the 3-meter board (163.40) and eighth on the 1-meter board (157.8).
Wellesley swimming and diving is back in action a week from today, hosting Clark and Roger Williams at 1:00pm.
