Cabrini University men’s swimming team opened its 2022-23 season with a one-sided victory over Kings College. The final score was 123-49.
“This year, our training has been further intensified, so regardless of our small size, we hope to bring home the conference title for the fifth year in a row,” Matt Seifried, junior finance major and swimmer, said. “We maintained confidence in our abilities, while also staying humble.”
Seifried’s first event of the day was the 200-yard medley which included teammates Kenny Lok, junior business management major, Mac Granto fifth-year grad student and global masters in business administration major, and Jeffery Travers, freshman exercise science major. The team won the event with a total time of 1:46.69.
Seifried won two individual races: the 200-yard freestyle, with a time of 1:53.68, and the 100-yard butterfly, with a time of 57.84.
“It felt awesome to open the season with a win, especially with how fast we swam at our first meet,” Michael Gray, junior business management major and swimmer, said.
Gray won three events at the meet. The first was the 50-yard freestyle, with a time of 22.42. The second was the 100-yard breaststroke at 1:03.73. His third win of the day was the 200-yard freestyle relay at 1:32.14.
Expectations for the season
“Some expectations that the team and I share for this season is to maintain our determination to win,” Seifried said. “As the season progresses, I look to improve my races by dropping time. This can be achieved by working on little techniques in practice and consistently giving 100%.”
Last year, Cabrini men’s swim team finished 14th out of 18th in their Eastern College Athletic Conference Championship, with a regular season record of 10-2, and a 3-0 Atlantic East Conference, AEC, a playoff record. They finished first in all three AEC races, securing the conference championship.
“Our team is smaller compared to others in the conference, but we know that we can still compete and win despite the size of our roster,” Gray said.
The men’s swim team consists of around nine swimmers, while most teams in the AEC consist of at least 12 or more.
“This year we have a small team, roughly eight swimmers, most teams have 14. We walked away excited, but also understood the season would bring more challenges,” Seifried said.
Postgame emotions
“We made it our goal to start this season faster than we did last year, so it felt good to come out swimming fast,” Gray said. “Starting off with a win is the way any team wants to start their season. We know that the meet wasn’t perfect and that it’s back to work come Monday.”
Cabrini men’s swim team started their 2021-22 season in a similar fashion, leading off against Kings College.
“I was able to feel the hard work I put into our training paying off. This gave me the confidence that this season would be a good one for me and the team as a whole,” Seifried said.
Cabrini men’s swim team started their conference play this season 0-2 after falling short to Marymount University and St. Marys College of Maryland. The team’s next conference game is against Gallaudet University on Jan. 21, their next meet is Nov. 12 against Salisbury University.
