On Feb. 13, 2022, the Cabrini’s men’s swimming team won their fourth consecutive Atlantic East Conference title after powering through the weekend-long championship meet.
There were memorable performances by many swimmers of Cabrini’s team and there was no doubt that everyone got to see the power and dedication shine through during those events.
The Cavaliers took home 12 of the 18 events over the championship weekend and amassed 691 total points, beating Marymount, who was right behind Cabrini finishing in second with 454 points.
It was a big and unforgettable day for the senior swimmers as they got to be part of such a special win overall. Smiles and celebrations to everyone around for this fourth straight Atlantic East title.
One swimmer in particular that stood out during this conference championship was Mac Granto, a senior business management major. Granto was able to claim his third consecutive conference title in the 100-yard freestyle. He managed to reach the wall in 48.21 seconds.
“Being a senior, it feels amazing to be able to win an AEC championship each year I swam. I’m proud of our team and what we have been able to accomplish, especially this year. I feel I swam up to my expectations. I couldn’t have asked for a better year,” Granto said.
Granto is lucky to have been around all four years to withhold a championship title each year that he’s been with Cabrini. His consistency and involvement with the team have paid off and is grateful to have experienced yet another championship win to spend with his teammates.
“Leading up to champs we were projected to win so we knew we had a target on our back. Practice was tough but it was all worth it in the end,” Granto said.
“The atmosphere was intense. In the weeks before the championship as a team, we took the time to focus on our techniques and put a lot of time and effort into the events we were swimming to make sure we went in feeling good. I knew that I had trained hard all season long and that this meet would give me the chance to show off all the work I had put in. Even though we were ranked first, I still went in with a hungry mindset,” Matt Seifried, sophomore swimmer, said.
It is no question that stakes were high, but the urge to step up and execute was inevitable and Cabrini did just that. Hard work and dedication paid off and it left the team with a win for the books.
Matt Seifried, sophomore finance major, describes his thoughts about his overall performance during the meet.
“I was very pleased with my performance. It was nice being able to put up season-best times for all my events and second place for most of my individual events. Even though I was not able to get us first-place points, filling in those middle points contributed to our big win. Me and my teammates were able to break twelve total new records,” Seifried said.
Seifried acknowledges that even though he wasn’t individually able to capture a first-place spot in events, his ability and performances helped benefit the team in the points that were achieved as well as the new records that were broken from the team in total.
“We went into every race never expecting to win, we fought for every race,” Seifried said.
