The Gustavus men’s swimming and diving team dropped its opening conference meet to St. Olaf 141-157, Saturday afternoon in St. Peter, Minn. Gustavus had five wins and 11 second place finishes, as St. Olaf claimed victories in 11 events. Whitaker Davis and Paul Kirihara each finished with two victories and one second place finish. Whitaker placed first in the 200 freestyle (1:44.37) and 200 butterfly (2:01.89), and took second in the 100 freestyle (48.75). Kirihara had a another successful day in the backstroke, winning the 100 (53.66) and 200 (1:58.19). He also joined William Schultze, Matt Van Fossen, and Peter Roth to take second in the 200 medley relay (1:36.86).
Schultze ended the meet with four second place finshes that included the 100 (1:01.74) and 200 breaststroke (2:12.72), and the 200 IM (2:03.28). Skylar Davis had a solid day, taking second in the 1000 (9:44.67) and 500 freestyle (4:50.81), and third in the 200 IM. Van Fossen registered the only other Gustavus victory, winning the 100 butterfly (52.86), as Sam DeFranco placed second in the 50 freestyle (22.63). The 400 freestyle relay (3:17.35) team of Peter Roth, Sam DeFranco, Skylar Davis, and Ben Stewart also placed second.
Other Gustavus third place finishers included Roth in the 50 and 100 freestyle, John Rice in the 1000 and 500 freestyle, Ross Elenkiwich in the 100 and 200 butterfly, David Kramer in the 100 and 200 breaststroke, and Gunnar Teigen in the 50 and 200 freestyle, and 200 backstroke. Bill Klein also took third in both the one and three-meter diving.
St. Olaf’s Chris Bateman broke the pool record in both the 100 breaststroke (59.09) and 1000 freestyle (9:41.65).