After a shortened 2020-21 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Binghamton swimming & diving program is gearing up for a complete campaign this year. The Bearcats held their intrasquad Green-White Meet this past weekend and open up the regular season at Army with Vermont this Friday.

The meet schedule this year includes eight dual or tri-meets (five at home) and a mid-season Invitational at Rhode Island (Nov. 19-21). It all leads up to the America East Championships Feb. 10-13 at WPI.
The full season as a program is welcome news to the Bearcats heading into their first meet.

"We pride ourselves on our team atmosphere and culture," head coach Jerry Cummiskey said. "We did a lot last year with the little time that we had and having the men's and women's teams training together again all year is going to be great."

MEN'S PREVIEW

The Bearcat men's team certainly made the most of the truncated 2020-21 season, winning their first America East team championship since 2003. In fact, through five dual meets and the conference meet, Binghamton went undefeated as a team the entire season.

This year, the depth, talent and experience are there to have another strong season.

"Top to bottom, our men are in a great place," Cummiskey said. "Being able to compete all the way through the year is going to be a strength when we get to the conference meet in February. We have a lot of proven scorers throughout our roster."

Binghamton returns four defending conference champions from last season. Senior Ryan Board broke his own record in the 100 breast (54.70) while sophomore Liam Murphy swept the 500 and 1000 free titles. Sophomore Jake Vecchio captured the 100 fly while fellow sophomore Henry Shemet took top honors in the 200 IM.

"We had three swimmers win titles as freshmen last year and all of them are hard workers that want to do better," Cummiskey said. "All of our returning champions welcome having the target on their backs. It is going to be more motivating for them."

Two other returning swimmers earned all-conference honors at last year's meet. Sophomore Xiaoyu Lin was second in the 200 breast while junior Justin Meyn was third in both the 100 free and fly. Shemet was also the runner up in the 400 IM and Board was third in the 200 breast.

The divers lost David Walters and Erik Temple to graduation but have reloaded for another strong season. Senior Christopher Egan, the 2020 America East Men's Most Outstanding Diver, returns after missing last season with an injury. Junior Ryan Cohn has been a top-three finisher at the conference meet in his first two seasons. Also returning is sophomore Will Maurer, who missed the America East meet last season.

"Diving is always been a strength for us," Cummiskey said. "Chris, Ryan and Will should be a great group and score big points for us in both dual meets and at the conference meet."

Murphy will be joined in the distance events by juniors Matthew Palguta and Zachary Ciriaco. Palguta was a top-eight finisher in the 500 free and the conference meet as was Ciriaco in the 1000 free.

Board, Lin, Shemet and Meyn lead a very strong breaststroke group, which also includes sophomore Eric Kroon. From that group, the Bearcats had four of the top eight finishers at the conference meet in the 200 breast and three of the top four finishers in the 100 breast.

In the IM events, Shemet, Ciriacco and junior Jackson Homan are the top returners. Ciriaco was fourth in the 400 IM at the conference meet last season. Board, meanwhile, has also swam in the 200 IM and was fourth in the America East Championships last year.

Meyn is the top returning sprinter on the team. Senior Benjamin Beldner and sophomores Sandon Karinsky and Travis Phillips were top-eight finishers at the conference meet last year. Homan is also part of the sprint group. Freshman Elijah Lanfear and Chatham Keegan, the two freshmen in this year's team, both swim the 50 free.

Vecchio anchors this year's group in the fly events. Karinsky was a top-eight finisher last year in the 100 fly. Lanefear, Karinsky, Homan and Phillips are the other returning swimmers.

In the backstroke events, sophomore Christopher Ghim was fourth in the 200 back. Keegan, junior Brian Harding and sophomore George Kipshidze are also slated to swim in those events.

WOMEN'S PREVIEW

Like the men's team, the Binghamton women's squad went unbeaten during the regular season. At the conference meet, however, the team fell short of their goal of cracking into the top three, finishing behind New Hampshire, UMBC, and Vermont.

Despite the way the season ended, however, Cummiskey is optimistic about this year's squad.

"We return a great group," he said. "Last year was a challenging year for everyone, we would have liked to have a stronger showing at the end of the season but we are encouraged with where we are now as we start this season and think we have great things ahead of us!"

Once again, the divers will play a pivotal role in the Bearcats' success on the women's side. Sophia Howard, the 2021 America East Most Outstanding Diver graduated but senior Amanda McGraw, who won the same honor in 2019, returns after missing last year with an injury.

Sophomores Lindsey Weissman and Marisa Lee were top-eight scorers at the conference meet last year. Weissman also earned all-conference honors as a top-three finisher in the three-meter event. Junior Chloe Peterson missed last year's America East meet but was a top-eight finisher as a freshman in 2020.

A pair of freshmen – Miranda Rogers and Jade Liguori round out the divers.

"This group of divers could be even deeper than last year," Cummiskey said. "We were down some divers due to injuries and quarantine protocols. Having six talented female divers who can all score at the conference meet is a huge advantage for us."

In the swimming events, the Bearcats' strongest events are the breast and IM. Sophomore Courtney Moane was Binghamton's top overall point scorer last season and freshman Lauren Kuzma arrives on campus after placing in the top-eight of both boards for Garden City High School at the New York State Championships. Fellow freshman Chelsea Miao also will compete in both events. Freshman Annie Shih and junior Alyssa Martin are also slated to be part of that group.

"The IM and breaststroke events are strong for us," Cummiskey said. "Lauren will come in and make a big impact. Our breaststroke group is our deepest on the team."

In the sprints, sophomore Molly Greeley is the top returner, having placed fifth in the 50 free at the conference meet last season. Fellow sophomores Skylar Ward and Lara Geelen are also slated to compete in the sprints as well as freshman Emma Carolan.

Senior Katie Schultz is the top returning distance swimmer, having placed second in the 1,650 free at the 2020 conference meet. A trio of sophomores – Ward, Marley Zimmerman and Mel Carousso will also swim in those events.

Sophomore Maddie Hoover is the top returner in the backstroke events, having finished sixth in the 100 back at last year's conference meet. Geelen and fellow sophomore Kandice Chandra also return.

Senior Belen Marriaga returns in the butterfly events, along with junior Meadow Perez, Ward and Geelen.

A total of nine freshman join this year's squad. In addition to Kuzma, Rogers, Liguori, Maio, Shih and Carolan, the Bearcats welcome Lauren Schreiner, Alexandra Switalski and Olivia Ugarte.