After the Binghamton men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams swept St. Bonaventure at a dual meet over the weekend, both Bearcat teams will enter the American East (AE) championships with an undefeated regular season record. Both teams finished with a 5-0 record on the season. The women’s side wrapped its last nonconference meet winning 179-121 while the men took down the Bonnies 185-111.

“It was a good weekend, we competed well and swam pretty well, we just continue to get better week to week which is pretty nice to see,” said Binghamton head coach Jerry Cummiskey.

Leading the charge for Binghamton was freshman Kandice Chandra. She secured 27 total points on an individual level, winning the 100 backstroke with a time of 1:00.59, the 200 backstroke in 2:09.78 and the 100 butterfly in 1:01.28. Chandra was also part of the winning 200-yard medley relay team that clocked in at 1:50.52 to take another 11 points away from the Bonnies.

“[Chandra] has really been our primary backstroker this season and has been super consistent,” Cummiskey said. “[She] has done really well for us, so we are excited to see what she can do.”

While Chandra won in many of the short-distance events, senior Sophia Howard took first in both one-meter and three-meter diving events, earning scores of 250.57 and 240.60 respectively. Heading into the conference meet, Howard is unbeaten at the three-meter height and has only lost once on the one-meter board.

“[Howard’s] great, she’s been a captain for us, she’s a great leader,” Cummiskey said. “She is someone who motivates her teammates by the way she works and she is probably the most encouraging teammate we have. She is super supportive in and out of the water.”

Further widening the gap, senior Kaitlyn Smolar won the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:58.64 and later competed in the 500 freestyle, taking gold with a time of 5:15.50. Freshman Molly Greeley rounded out the women’s team’s top finishing individuals, taking first in both the 100 freestyle (54.39) and the 50 freestyle (25.45).

For the men, junior Ryan Board helped secure 38 total points for the Bearcats. In addition to being part of the first-place 200 medley relay team, which clocked in at 1:34.88, Board also won the 100 breast with a time of 57.56, the 200 breast in 2:07.79 and the 200 IM in 1:57.76.

“They just work hard, no one takes it for granted,” Cummiskey said. “They come in every day and have a great training environment to push each other to work hard and be better. [Board] is definitely one of those guys that come in and works hard all the time no matter what we are doing. He has been one of the leaders of the men’s team.”

After the relay, sophomore Zach Ciriaco swam a time of 9:49.13 in the 1000 freestyle to take first, followed by freshman Liam Murphy’s time of 1:44.31 in the 200 freestyle to take another nine points. Freshman Jake Vecchio also had a dominant performance, taking first in the 200 butterfly with a time of 1:58.91.

Sophomore Justin Meyn was a double winner for the Bearcats, winning the 50 freestyle with a time of 21.62 and the 100 freestyle, clocking in at 47.82 to take gold. Finally, sophomore Matthew Palguta won the 500 freestyle with a time of 4:46.80.

In last year’s AE Championships, the men took second and the women finished fourth, but Cummiskey is looking to win in the upcoming conference meet.

“We pay a lot of attention to detail here, the intensity of our train will taper out,” Cummiskey said. “We are primed to go fast and compete that weekend, we are definitely excited to see where we are.”

For this season, the AE diving championships and swimming championships will be held at separate sites. The 2021 AE Swimming Championships will be held beginning on Friday, April 23 in Newark, New Jersey. The weekend before that, BU will host the 2021 AE Diving Championships at the Patricia A. Saunders Aquatic Center in Vestal, New York.