FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Fairfield University swimming and diving teams are back to competition this weekend after a two month break. The Stags recently completed their two-week training trip to Hawaii in which they practiced twice a day in beautiful, sunny Honolulu. Both teams will travel to Brooklyn, New York on Saturday to compete against St. Francis with the meet scheduled for 3:30 p.m. The women's team will also compete against Siena College on Monday at 1 p.m.
During the fall, Fairfield saw tremendous improvement and was able to put together a number of outstanding times that placed in the program's Top-10. The freshman particularly shined as eight rookies saw their names added to the record book in the fall. Four swimmers from the men's team (Justin Touve, Edmund Falcigno, Ben Nelligan, and Evan Gorman) each posted at least one Top-10 time during the first half of their first year. Four freshmen on the women's team (Kelly Cordes, Grace Goddard, Donna Lam, and Emily Vlass) posted 15 individual Top-10 times. Cordes, Goddard, and Vlass each added their name four times to the Fairfield record book.
The diving team saw their share of success as well with junior Daniel Pires and freshman Jane Rice each posting Top-10 scores in both the 1-meter and 3-meter dives. Pires now owns the second best scores in both events in program history.
On Saturday, both teams will compete at St. Francis College. Their women's team went 0-3 in the fall with competitions against Mount St. Mary's, Saint Francis University, and LIU Brooklyn. Their men competed just once in the fall in a quad meet against Iona, Wagner, and Sacred Heart.
Then on Monday, the women will take on a fellow MAAC school in Siena College. The Saints are coming off their first-ever ECAC Championship, won back in December. Siena sat in second place after day one, but took the top spot after day two and remained there for the final day of the competition.
The Fairfield men's team went 1-4 in the fall and are coming off a seventh place finish at the Terrier Invitational. The women were 2-3 during the first half of the season and are coming off an eighth place finish at the Terrier Invitational. Each team will continue to gear up for the MAAC Championships beginning on February 10.
