The Navy's swimming and diving program has two words: “legacy” and “expectation.”
Both Navy's men's and women's teams have built incredible legacies by dominating Patriot League competition. Continued success is encouraging, as cadets are expected to continue to excel each year.
Led by Ella Habjan and Jonah Harm, Navy swimming and diving achieved another success, sweeping the team title at the Patriot League Championships held Wednesday through Saturday inside Lejeune Hall on the academy campus. did.
Harm won three individual events, swam one leg of the winning relay, and led the Navy men with 1,397 points. That's just 50.5 meters behind second-placed Army, who continues to close the gap in terms of his talent and depth.
The Navy men's swimming and diving team has a perfect record in Patriot League competition, and has now won 20 championships in 20 seasons as a member. This will further extend the record for consecutive championships in any sport.
Habjan won the 100-meter backstroke, swam the leadoff leg for the two winning relay teams, and paced the Navy women's team, earning 1,397 points. This was 198 points higher than second place Army. She won her 12th straight Navy women's swimming and diving title and placed 22nd overall.
“The legacy of Navy women's swimming and diving has led to certain expectations. I think we feel a little more pressure than our athletes,” Navy women's coach John Morrison said. “They know that if they work hard every day, the job will get done. I trust them to do it.”
Wiping out this season wasn't easy, as norovirus spread across the Naval Academy campus and many members of the swimming and diving teams became ill. Harm was one of the athletes affected and did not participate in the warm-up to conserve energy for the race.
“It was more than a minor miracle to get this far after this result,” Navy men's coach Bill Roberts said. “Given the many setbacks this team experienced earlier this week, I am speechless at how the men and women of Navy swimming and diving found a way to muster the strength and courage to compete. ”
Navy's men also had to overcome the controversial disqualification of Jake Dubarry, who placed eighth in the 200 backstroke. Dubarry, who was also battling a serious illness, suffered a seizure during the final and finished 10 seconds behind the seventh-place finisher.
DeBerry was disqualified for inappropriate behavior, with tournament officials determining that he did not make a “good faith effort.” Mr. Roberts appealed the ruling, but after much discussion among tournament officials, tournament managers, and multiple representatives of the Patriot League office, the ruling was upheld.
Doobarry's disqualification cost Navy 22 points and made the game even closer. Roberts pointed out that “good faith effort” is subjective and offered mitigating factors for Doobarry spasms that occur as a result of infection by the virus.
Roberts also protested the fact that Army's Brant Nigro, as chairman of the coaches committee, voted for disqualification rather than resignation, as required by Patriot League rules.
Harm broke the pool record with a time of 45.78 seconds en route to winning the 100 butterfly. This is the third consecutive season he has won the championship at this event.
Harm then swam the leadoff leg of the 400-meter freestyle relay, setting a Patriot League record for Navy with a time of 2:52.5 to close out the meet. Ben Denman Grimm, Ben Stankovic, and Everett Andrew teamed with Harm.
Harm was also an individual champion in both the 50-meter and 100-meter freestyle and was named swimmer of the meet. Ben Irwin, who won three individual titles, was named Rookie of the Meet.
Irwin won the 200 backstroke in a Patriot League record time of 1:41.06. He also placed first in the 100-meter backstroke and 200-meter butterfly, and swam the opening leg of the 400-meter medley relay, which was won by Navy.
Finn Gerbach was named Diver of the Meet after winning both the 1m and 3m disciplines. Navy's Tim Fisher was named Men's Diving Coach of the Year.
Habjan swam the leadoff leg of Navy's 200-meter medley relay and won with a meet record time of 1:39.15. She also swam the leadoff leg of the victorious 400-meter medley relay, breaking the pool record with a time of 3 minutes, 37.25 seconds.
“Ella had an incredible encounter and was truly brave throughout,” Mr Morrison said.
Riley Gavigan, Caroline Irwin and Maya Novak were also members of the 200 and 400 medley relay teams. Irwin also won the 100 butterfly, overtaking top seed Mimi Watts in the last 25 meters and causing an upset.
“Caroline put together a great race and won,” Coach Morrison said of Irwin, who finished second in the 200 fly.
Gabi Baldwin won the 200-meter individual medley in a time of 1:59.18, dethroning the deafening champion. That was just 1,700th of a second faster than No. 1 seed Lily Mead of Loyola. Baldwin also took second place in the 200-meter freestyle.
“We're very fortunate to have great depth and to be able to cover all disciplines,” said Morrison, who was named Women's Coach of the Year.
