Every Second Counts: 2013 Lehman Lightning Men’s Swim Team
By Eldridg Chavez
It’s February 2, 2013. We’re at the Apex Building at Lehman College, in the Bronx, New York. The third and final day of the three-day CUNYAC Swimming & Diving Championships. The Baruch Bearcats, the preseason favorite, are looking for their fourth consecutive CUNYAC title. The host Lehman Lightning are holding onto a narrow lead over the Bearcats. The 100-yard freestyle is about to begin. A first-place win for Lehman seals the championship. A sweep of the event from the Bearcats extends their hope for a four-peat. Before we find out who’s the last team standing, let’s see how we got here first.
Before Baruch’s run of three-straight titles beginning in 2010, the Lightning were the elite squad, coming off their fourth consecutive CUNYAC Championship from 2005 - 2009, with the 2005 campaign being their first in program history.
In 2013, Baruch and Lehman finished one and two in the standings, respectively. The Bearcats went a perfect 4-0 record in conference play while the Lightning finished with a 3-1 mark against conference opponents.
Leading the way for Lehman was sophomore
Abel Dupres. Dupres, a two-time CUNYAC Swimmer of the Week winner, led Lehman in points with numerous top finishes in individual and relay events. Dupres held the top times for six individual events that included the 50 and 100 freestyles, 50, 100, and 200 backstrokes, and the 100-fly. During the CUNYAC Swimming and Diving Championships, the sophomore compiled two gold medals along with five silver medals. For his outstanding efforts, Dupres was voted 2013 CUNYAC Male Performer of the Year.
For Baruch, they rode the shoulders of CUNYAC Rookie of the Year,
Jacky Lau. Lau was the Rookie of the Week five times and Swimmer of the Week once during his rookie campaign. At the CUNYAC Championships, Lau tied
Ivan Srdanovic of Lehman for most points collected throughout the three-day competition. The freshman was also a part of two record-breaking relay teams during the championships. The first-year swimmer compiled five gold medals with two silver medals.
After the first day of competition, Lehman won half of the events en route to first place, with 362 points. They were followed closely by Baruch (276), Brooklyn College (181), College of Staten Island (165), and York College (42).
Day one started in record style as the Bearcats ‘A’ relay team of
Kenny Kim, James Chang, (Jacky) Lau
, and Ryan Flynn set a new CUNYAC meet record with a time of 1:27.72 in the 200-free relay event. The Lehman ‘A’ and ‘B’ Relay teams took second and third, respectively, in 1:28.22 and 1:35.73. Baruch’s ‘B’ and Staten Island’s ‘A’ rounded out the top five.
Up next was the 500-free event, where Lehman’s Srdanovic claimed maximum points, winning in 5:06.16. Baruch’s depth helped the Bearcats take third through fifth, with
George Martinez, Patrick Campbell, and Daniel Donis.
In the 200-IM, Lehman’s
Anthony Preda turned in a time of 2:01.28 to win, out-touching the Bearcats Lau, who finished in 2:01.58.
In the final relay of the day, the 400-medley, Lehman’s ‘A’ relay of
Ramon Peralta, Preda, Dupres, and Srdanovic took the gold in 3:35.87, three seconds faster than Baruch’s ‘A’ relay team.
On day two of the meet, Lehman held onto its day one lead with 765 points, followed by Baruch with 678.
The opening event was the 200-medley relay. There, the Bearcats inched closer to Lehman as the ‘A’ and ‘B’ squads took gold and bronze with times of 1:38.65 and 1:45.16, respectively. Lehman finished second to take home silver in 1:39.23.
In the 200-free, Srdanovic snagged the gold medal with a time of 1:47.27. Baruch's Kim and Flynn finished second and third, respectively with times of 1:49.96 and 1:53.77. Finishing out the day was the 800-free relay. Baruch ‘A’ took home gold as they finished with a time of 7:34.62. Lehman ‘A’ followed at 7:40.24 to nab silver and Baruch ‘B’ grabbed bronze in 8:11.33.
On the third and final day of competition, the Lightning set the tone as Srdanovic outpaced the competition with a time of 18:01.27 in the 1650-free relay. He was followed by Baruch’s Martinez and Campbell, who finished in 18:03.49 and 18:32.47, respectively.
The 200-back finished with Baruch’s rookie standout Lau coming out on top with a time of 2:02.46, helping the Bearcats keep with the Lightning. Lehman’s Peralta took second at 2:06.31, while Baruch senior
Gabriel Yanez finished with bronze in 2:08.02.
In the 100-free, the Bearcats needed to sweep the race to make the final event of the day the 400-free relay, a winner-take-all. The Performer of the Year had other plans as Dupres finished the race with a time of 48.23 to take gold.
The hopes of a four-peat is over. The Lehman Lightning are the 2013 CUNYAC Men’s Swimming Champions.
For his efforts, Lau was named the meet’s Most Valuable Performer. At the time, the 52-point margin marked the slimmest victory in CUNYAC history.
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