The Navy men’s swimming and diving team (5-2) used its depth, winning nine of 16 events, to down Princeton (4-1), 157-143, on Saturday at Lejeune Hall. The Mids saw seven different swimmers win an individual race in the meet.
“[Our depth] is something that we have been able to create,” said head coach Bill Roberts. “Fortunately, we had a few guys that were a hair off but their teammates picked them up to grab a good team win.”
Sophomore Tom Duvall (Durham, N.H.) led the Mids with first-place finishes in the 500-yard and 1000-yard freestyle races. Duvall has swept the 500 and 1000-yard freestyle races for the second consecutive meet against Princeton.
"If you watch Tom [Duvall] swim, he is very efficient in the water," said Coach Roberts about Duvall's success against Princeton. "He has a great internal clock and knows what he is doing in the pool. He has a good idea how he is going to swim the race before he enters the pool, which is a great attribute and fun to watch."
Navy senior Sean Murphy (Hudson, Ohio) had strong performances in 100-yard and 200-yard breaststroke, winning the 100-yard with a time 54.33 and finishing third in the 200-yard. Murphy’s 100-yard finishing time (54.33) is the third-fastest performance at Navy.
Following winning performances from Murphy (100-yd breaststroke) and Duvall (500-yd/1000-yd freestyle), Navy’s Jonathan DeBaugh (Conroe, Texas) finished first in an exciting 200-yd butterfly race with a time of 1:49.22. DeBaugh hit the tape 1.2 seconds before Princeton’s Oliver Bennett.
Navy won the next three of five events after DeBaugh’s first-place finish,. The Mids went 1-2-3 in the 50-yd freestyle, as Dain Bomberger (Lititz, Pa.) led the pack with a time of 20.31. Then Hugh Davison (Towson, Md.) took home the 100-yd freestyle, edging out Princeton’s Jeremy Wong by .57 seconds (45.23-45.80).
Senior Luke Hoffer (Chapel Hill, N.C.) extended Navy’s lead with a win in the 200-yd breaststroke, hitting the side of the pool at 2:00.56. Ben Freedman (Kennewick, Wash.) capped the meet with Navy’s final individual win in the 1-meter dive with a mark of 320.03.
“The history of the meets between Navy and Princeton you know coming in that it will be a battle,” said Coach Roberts. “I just told our guys that we can not predict who is going to win the meet, but the only thing you can control is go out, race and give it your all and it showed that everyone put forth their best effort today.”
Navy will look to carry its two-meet winning streak on the road against North Carolina on Jan. 11. The meet is slated to begin at 11 a.m.
