Blue Swimming Earns 172-100 Victory over Simmons University

WELLESLEY, Mass. — Wellesley College swimming & diving won 11 out of 16 events in a 172-100 win over Simmons University in the home opener of the 2021-22 season. 

Wellesley's Cecilia Cai (Palo Alto, Calif.) won two individual events for the second consecutive meet. The first year picked up the gold in 200 yard freestyle with a time of 1:59.78, three second faster than second place finisher Ariana Mitsuoka (Centennial, Co.) of the Blue. Cai followed up the 200 yard race with a first place finish in the 200 yard backstroke. Mira Tang (Mercer Island, Wash.) placed second with a time of 2:16.97 and Cai took first coming in at 2:12.46. 

Senior Jessica Wegner (Taipei, Taiwan) also finished first in two events for the Blue, winning the 100 yard backstroke and the 100 yard butterfly. Wegner finished at 1:01.41 in the backstroke, just ahead of Mellany Smith (West Orange, N.J.) who came in at 1:02.26. The senior then won the 100 yard butterfly at 59.10 in a battle with teammate Angela Zhu (Bayside, N.Y.) who clocked a 59.60.

Shawfong Hsu (Taipei, Taiwan) picked up her first career individual win in the 100 yard breaststroke with a time of 1:10.77. The first year was not finished, as she swam a 2:33.39 in the 200 yard breaststroke which was good for another first place finish.

After a second place finish to Cai in the 200 yard freestyle, Mitsuoka picked up a victory in the 100 yard freestyle. The sophomore finished with a time of 54.33 and earned nine points for the Blue.

Wellesley dominated in the two relay events with a win in both and earning 22 points towards the team victory. In the opening 200 yard medley relay, the team of Cai, McKaela Glanville (Menlo Park, Calif.), Wegner, and Mitsuoka took first with a time of 1:52.50. In the closing 400 yard freestyle relay, the squad of Mona Li (Cary, N.C.), Maya Kushner (Tokyo, Japan), Arya Wu (Shenzhen, China), and Tang swam a 3:54.41 to earn the win.

For Simmons, Eva Piernas won the 1000 yard freestyle with a time of 11:24.33 and the 500 yard freestyle at 5:34.69. 

The Blue will next compete in a tri-meet with Springfield College and Babson on Sunday, November 14 starting at 1:00 PM and hosted by Springfield.