Men and women’s swim kicked off 2024 with back-to-back meets, starting with a dual meet on Friday against the University of Southern Indiana and then on Saturday against the University of Evansville and Wabash College.

This is the men’s first time competing in the water this season since their suspension due to hazing was uplifted at the start of 2024.

The team fell short with a score of 93-168 against USI on Friday. Saturday, the team fell to Evansville 41-157 and put up a fight against Wabash, losing 94-111.

On Friday, the men had an exhilarating first-place finish from junior Conner Colston with a time of 1:43.95 in the 200-yard freestyle, which beat second place by four seconds. Colston also got first in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 47.87, closely followed by junior Dismas Dillon with a time of 47.95. Senior Jackson Penny also got first in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:02.30.

“I think the entire men’s team performed great, gave it 100 percent and left it all out in the water,” Colston said. “It’s hard to have such a major setback this season then go right into a month-long break and have to hold yourself accountable to make the practices and hit the weights until you come back to school. We all held each other accountable and were lucky enough to come back conditioned and ready to race.”

There were many second-place finishes for Eastern including sophomore Sebastian Rosales in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 54.01, Dillon in the 50-yard freestyle with 21.40, freshman Landon Badstibner in the 200-yard butterfly with 2:05.59 and freshman Nolan Wallace who lost by 0.04 in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:00.24.

On Saturday, the men opened up with a silver finish in the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:37.10. The relay consisted of freshman Eli Westbrook, freshman Gabe Berry, Rosales and Dillon.

Colston put up a fight in the 200-yard freestyle, falling less than half a second short with a time of 1:44.98. Dillon also got second in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 21.55.

Eastern concluded Saturday with the 200-yard freestyle relay, which consisted of Dillon, Colston, Berry and junior Jacob Wienants. The Panthers were able to get second place with a time of 1:26.79.

With a quick turnaround and minimal experience competing this season, the men hope to focus on getting in some technical work along with some power, which they were able to incorporate last week. They will also continue to keep their endurance levels high.

On the women’s side, the Panthers fell short both days, losing to USI on Friday 109-149 and Evansville on Saturday 81-114. They were able to get off to a great start, winning the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:50.78.

Other first-place finishes include junior Autumn Grinter in the 50-yard freestyle, 24.54, and the 100-yard freestyle, 54.22, freshman Erika Barber with a time of 2:13.18 in the 200-yard backstroke, junior Corinne Staneart in the 200-yard breaststroke with a 2:25.07. They were also able to get another relay win from Grinter, senior Phoebe Croston, junior Izzy Glasgow and junior Kaylan Ottosen in the 200-yard freestyle relay with a time of 1:41.88.

On Saturday, Eastern was able to get another win in the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:50.48 from Glasgow, Staneart, junior Olivia Viele and Grinter. Grinter then followed that performance up with another win in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 24.57. Staneart was able to get second in the 200-yard individual medley with a time 2:12.62, falling just short of first place by 0.12 seconds.

With an undefeated two days, Grinter said she is feeling confident going into the next few weeks as they compete at Butler next weekend and the conference championships after. When it comes to working as a team, Grinter said she is excited to swim against senior Camryn Lewis in the 50-yard freestyle, where they will work together and try to push each other.

There was notable second place finishes in the meet against Evansville from Croston in the 200-yard freestyle with 2:03.95, Viele in the 100-yard backstroke, 1:04.17, and freshman Erika Baber in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:27.31.

Both teams put up a fight and will be returning in the water next weekend at Butler University in Indianapolis, on Sunday at 11 a.m.

Chloe Proffitt can be reached at 581-2812 or at [email protected].