Knights Off to Strong Start at Don Richards Invitational

Melissa Cartier

Swimming/Diving | 12/1/2023 10:00:00 PM

Rochester, NY – Two strong performances in the relays allowed the Clarkson University Swimming & Diving program to get off to a solid start at the annual Don Richards Invitational, hosted by RIT, on Friday evening.

Through 12 events, the Clarkson men are in third place among seven teams with 170 points, trailing RIT (491) and Skidmore (191) but ahead of Roberts Wesleyan (106), Monroe Community College (100), St. Lawrence University (60), and Hobart College (44), while the Golden Knights' women are in sixth among nine squads with 102 points, behind RIT (386), Skidmore (201), St. Lawrence (177), Roberts Wesleyan (114), and William Smith (106) and ahead of Mount Holyoke (98), Bard College (22), and Monroe Community College (22).

The invitational will go through two more sessions on Saturday, the first starting at 9:00 am and the final session beginning at 4:00 pm.

Clarkson's men had two runner-up finishes in the relay events, beginning the day with a 1:26.24 time in the 200 freestyle relay thanks to Gavin Stuhler, Tim Jordan, Landon Colby, and Connor Tasselmyer. The foursome of Michael Schroeder, Calvin Woolfolk, Landon Colby, and Connor Tasselmyer concluded the day with another silver showing in the 400 medley relay in 3:30.96.

Tasselmyer also had a second-place finish in the 50 freestyle by swimming the event in 21-seconds flat, the third-fastest time in program history (he had the two fasted times in the event back in February 2023). Gavin Stuhler also placed high in the event, taking sixth in 21.67 seconds. Colin Cordy was the other top performer for the men, placing eighth in the 500 freestyle in 5:01.36.

On the women's side, Paige Cutler broke Clarkson's 1-meter diving record (11 dives) with a score of 281.90, a handful of tallies ahead of Emily Weaver's production in February 2020. Gabriela McSwieney finished in fifth place among 50 competitors in the 500 freestyle with a time of 5:21.54, the best showing of any Clarkson individual on the women's side. The Golden Knights' 400 medley relay squad of Bella Triolet, Ava Lamontagne, Grace Girard, and McSwieney finished in fourth place in a time of 4:20.02.

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