While many know about the Cortaca Jug between Ithaca College and Cortland football, the Cortaca Tub between the two college’s swimming and diving programs is another annual rivalry that made its return to the water Nov. 9.
Both the Ithaca College men and women’s swimming and diving teams took to the pool against the Red Dragons at the Kelsey Partridge Bird Natatorium. The women’s team won handily, 204–96, and the men’s team won by a healthy margin, 190–110.
In an early-season meet, the Bombers saw swimmers compete in events outside of their main focus. Assistant coach Noah Beck said that watching the athletes accept the challenge of unfamiliar events was an early sign of strength for both teams.
“I think we had some good versatility,” Beck said. “We had a lot of people in their tertiary events, so they got to show what they had in that capacity. A meet like this allowed us to branch out a little bit.”
From the start, the Bombers took off and did not look back, beginning with the 400-yard medley relay. The women’s A team of sophomore Samantha Bender, first-year student Sydney Koehler, sophomore Kathleen Papiernik and junior Angela Merch took home the win in a time of 4:06.48, while the B team of junior Elke Beaumont, sophomore Spencer Carroll, junior Naomi Fry and sophomore Jillian Wedding took home second place with a time of 4:13.00.
On the men’s side, the Bombers A, B and C teams finished with a clean sweep of the podium, with the A-team of sophomore Alec Kutsner, first-year student Will Stanczewski, senior Santiago Ludwig and junior Ryan Cooke leading the way with a winning time of 3:34.47.
In the individual swimming events, the Bombers took home first place in eight of the 12 events on the men’s side and seven of 12 on the women’s side. Ludwig led the way for the men’s team in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:46.37 and the 500-yard freestyle in 4:55.14. First-year students Spencer Alderson and Stanczewski also won events for the Bombers, finishing first in the 100-yard freestyle and the 200-yard breaststroke with times of 49.11 and 2:18.53, marking the first and second of their collegiate careers, respectively.
For the women, Papiernik won the 200-yard backstroke and 400-yard individual medley with times of 2:15.29 and 4:52.33 respectively. First-year students Elizabeth Bodie and Koehler also won their respective events, taking first place in the 200-yard breaststroke and 100-yard butterfly with times of 2:29.53 and 59.57. The meet marked Koehler’s third win of the season and Bodie’s second, showcasing the Bombers’ depth on both rosters.
On the boards, it was business as usual for the divers. On the women’s side, the Bombers swept the podium in the 3-meter dive, led by seniors Kailee Payne and Angela Burke with scores of 292.55 and 284.55, respectively, followed by senior Jenell Slesser with a score of 265.30. Junior Eliza Salus finished in fifth place with 210.10 points.
In the 1-meter dive, Payne and Burke finished first and second again with scores of 284.85 and 262.90 respectively, followed by Salus with 231.65 points and Slesser with 227.70 points to round out the scoring.
For the men’s team, junior Kian Long and senior Ethan Godfrey finished third and fourth in the 1-meter dive with scores of 258.05 and 257.10. Godfrey also won the 3-meter dive with a score of 271.80. Juniors Samuel Smith and Long finished third and fourth with scores of 258.55 and 231.85, concluding the diving portion of the meet.
Beck said the team will need to continue taking small steps to prepare for their more competitive meets, with Liberty League foe Rochester Institute of Technology next on the schedule.
“We’ve made a lot of progress throughout the year,” Beck said. “There’s not one detail that’s gonna get us over the edge, it’s just consistency day in and day out like we’ve been doing. We just have to get prepared and excited and support each other and that’ll put us in a position to win.”
The Bombers’ next meet will be at 1 p.m. Nov. 23 at the Kelsey Partridge Bird Natatorium against the Tigers.
