WHITTIER, Calif. (Jan. 7, 2023) – The Whittier College men's swimming & diving team returned to action for the first time of 2024 with back-to-back meets against Pomona-Pitzer Colleges on Saturday and Albion College on Sunday. Both meets were unique for different reasons. The meet at Pomona-Pitzer utilized a long course format, while the Albion meet featured bite-sized sprint versions of the standard run of events.
Saturday
Freshman
Thomas Langlois (Haut-Richelieu, QC, Canada) led the Poets on Saturday in a tough draw against a program that is perennially among the best in NCAA Division III, let alone the SCIAC. The freshman competed in four events, besting two Pomona-Pitzer swimmers in the 800 Long Course Free with a time that just eclipsed the nine-minute mark (8:59.68). Langlois also went toe-to-toe with the Sagehens in the 200 Long Course Fly and 400 Long Course Free, posting a 2:19.64 and 4:26.66 respectively. His 200 Fly time was particularly impressive, touching the wall just seconds after another tough freshman from the Pomona-Pitzer camp.
Langlois also joined teammates
Garrett Dykier (Chino Hills, Calif. / Chino Hills),
Luca Samanta (Whittier, Calif. / Sonora) and
Nick Coltrin (Livermore, Calif. / Granada) in the 400 Long Course Freestyle Relay. The Poets were the only team of four competing relay groups to post a finishing time, with Langlois posting a 200m long course split of under a minute en route to the team finishing with a 3:57.21. Coltrin also competed hard for the Poets in his individual events, swimming to a third-place finish in the 100 Long Course Fly out of a field of six swimmers between the two teams (1:02.06).
Sunday
Whittier's top individuals showed well in a non-conference meet against Albion at the Slade Aquatics Center on Sunday, but the Poets ultimately came up short to the Britons based on depth. Whittier did manage to rattle off a slew of event wins in front of its home fans, with Langlois at the forefront with wins in all three of his individual events, plus the 200 Free Relay to end the day. The freshman combined with Dykier, Coltrin, and sophomore
James Saw (Cave Creek, Ariz. / Desert Mountain) to hold off the Britons by nearly two seconds (1:31.49). Meanwhile, the Canadian dominated the 1000 and 500 Free, and also upset teammates Dykier in the 200 Free by the slimmest of margins: two-hundredths of a second.
Langlois was not the only Poet to take care of business individually. Saw turned in another strong showing in his own right. He won the 100 Fly, and could have had a second individual event win had he not been scratched to free himself up to contribute on the 200 Free Relay team. Saw also competed in the 200 Medley Relay alongside teammates Coltrin, Dykier, and freshman
Nolan Morton (Kailua Kona, Hawaii / Kealakehe), collectively winning the event with a 1:41.18 time.
Head Coach
Michael Jafari and the Poets will look to continue to round into SCIAC Championship form when they travel to Caltech on Saturday, Jan. 13 for a dual meet against the Beavers. The meet is scheduled to get underway at 10:30 a.m.
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