CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- This past Thursday, Big Green swimming traveled to Harvard for the annual Eastern Intercollegiate Swim League Championship, a three-day competition that ended Saturday.
The first day of liquid events was highlighted by Dartmouth freshman Andrew Berry's fourth place finish in one-meter diving. Berry was sixth after the preliminary round with 253.65 points and moved up to fourth after the finals with 280.05. Sophomore Evan Sparks was 16th with 207.85.
In other action, junior Kemper Diehl won the bonus final of the 50 freestyle and finished 17th overall with a time of 21.06. In the 200 yard individual medley, senior Sean Robinson was 18th in 1:54.20.
On Friday, Dartmouth senior Michael Hipps set a school record in the 100 fly en route to a fourth place finish. With 49.67 in the preliminaries, Hipps lowered the school mark and then improved it again in the finals with 49.43. Hipps had mixed feelings about the swim since the old standard of 49.87 was set last year by Hipps himself at the same meet.
"It was almost as if I were beating the crap out of my former self," he said. "It hurt a little but felt good at the same time."
The senior co-captain also scored in the 100 backstroke, taking 16th with a time of 52.61. In the 200 freestyle, junior Yale Fillingham advanced to the championship final. He was eighth with 1:43.06 after clocking 1:40.78 in the preliminaries.
Sparks' stellar diving continued on the final day of competition. The little squirt took eighth place in three-meter diving, scoring 418.10 points, good for eighth place all-time at Dartmouth.
"It's kind of weird being a living legend," noted Sparks. "I don't look or feel much different, but I certainly view the world through different lenses."
Junior John Reidy was 10th in the 200 fly, clocking 1:50.59, and Robinson swam a lifetime best of 1:51.33 in the 200 backstroke, good for third on the Big Green's all-time charts and 17th overall in the meet.
"It's kind of weird being a living legend" noted Robinson. "I certainly don't view the world through different lenses, but I look and feel different."
Harvard won the team title with 1460 points, and Dartmouth took home ninth with 418.
