SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (Oct. 15, 2023) – Freshman
Thomas Langlois (Haut-Richelieu, QC, Canada) of the Whittier College men's swimming & diving team left an incredible impression in his Purple & Gold debut at the 2023 Slug Shootout, hosted by the University of California, Santa Cruz, winning multiple events en route to the Poets finishing sixth on the team scores. Whittier stood out as the only Division III institution competing in Santa Cruz.
The French-Canadian freestyle specialist won the men's 200 Free and 1650 Free, and in the process made program history. His seeded time in the Mile (16:20) ranks him third on the all-time Whittier top-10 list, and his finals time (16:29.34) would still have been good enough for third all-time. In winning the event, Langlois beat out swimmers from the likes of The Master's University and Fresno Pacific University, as well as UCSC. Langlois' 1:46.74 finish in the 200 Free, meanwhile, earned him a second victory on the weekend, and saw him finish nearly two seconds faster than junior teammate
Nicolas Friedley (Juneau, Alaska / Juneau Douglas). Langlois' domination extended into the 500 Free, where he took third and posted a 4:45.96 that positions him sixth all-time. Friedley, to his credit, rounded out the top five in the 400 IM with a 4:17 flat finals time. Friedley is the Whittier record-holder in the event by a nine-second margin.
The freshman capped off his weekend by anchoring a 400 Free team consisting of classmate
Nolan Morton (Kailua Kona, Hawaii / Kealakehe), sophomore
Luca Samanta (Whittier, Calif. / Sonora), and junior
Nick Coltrin (Livermore, Calif. / Granada). The Poets took ninth in the event as one of four relay teams to finish between 3:18 and 3:19. Coltrin, who is currently pulling double-duty as a rookie on the men's water polo team, had an impressive weekend in his own right with three Top-10 finishes and two Top-5 finishes. The junior took fourth in the 50 Free thanks to a 22.05 finals time, and stood out as one of just five swimmers to break 24 seconds in the 50 Fly (23.99). He also took seventh in the 100 Free thanks to a 48.59 finals time.
Another talented Whittier sophomore,
James Saw (Cave Creek, Ariz. / Desert Mountain), took fifth in the 100 Fly, swimming to a 53.07 finals time. Saw also snagged a top-10 finish in the 200 Fly, touching the wall in 2:02.03. Saw is already among the best swimmers in school history in both events, and will be looking to improve on his sixth and fifth-place standing in each event as the season continues to progress.
Head Coach
Michael Jafari and the Poets will look to keep things rolling when they travel to Long Beach next weekend to compete in the MPSF Open Water Championships.
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