Depth leads Grinnell men's swimming and diving team to runner-up finish at Pioneer Classic

Results

GRINNELL, Iowa - Grinnell College's men's swimming and diving team rode its depth to a runner-up finish at its own Pioneer Classic Saturday at Russell K. Osgood Pool.

The Pioneers rolled up 1,354 points to finish behind only Gustavus Adolphus College in the eight-team meet. The Gusties tallied 1,507.5.

Enrique Valero Ying '23 won the 200-yard breaststroke in 2 minutes, 10.46 seconds and Ethan Yuen '24 claimed top honors in the 200 butterfly in 1:57.63. Yuen's time ranks eighth in program history and was just .35 of a second off the meet record.

Runners-up for Grinnell were Yuen in the 100 butterfly (51.30) and 100 individual medley (53.75), Valero Ying in the 100 breaststroke (1:00.11), Kevin Fitzgerald '25 in the 200 backstroke (1:57.56), Sam Heller '23 in 1-meter diving (309.60) and Bert Wang '23 in the 200 breaststroke (2:12.17). Fitzgerald's time in the 200 backstroke ranks 10th all-time at Grinnell.

Also placing second was the 800 freestyle relay team of Jacob Lester '25, Chris Zhang '22, Adam Feilmeyer '25 and Diego Coelho Rodrigues '25. Their time was 7:21.30.

Grinnell was third in two other relays, the 200 medley and 400 freestyle. Members of the medley team, which finished in 1:37.88, were Fitzgerald, Harvey Wilhelm '24, Yuen and Zhang, while Josh Sutton '24, Luke Klein-Collins '23, Zhang and Yuen made up the freestyle team that swam 3:13.51.

Also placing third were Valero Ying in the 400 individual medley (4:15.57), Wang in the 100 breaststroke (1:00.33) and Ben Johnson '23 in the 1650 freestyle (17:23.12). Wang's time ranks 14th in program history.

Grinnell got fourth-place finishes from Wang in the 400 individual medley and 200 butterfly (4:15.96 and 2:04.21, respectively), Fitzgerald in the 100 backstroke (54.45), Klein-Collins in the 100 freestyle (48.86) and Dante Smith '22 in the 200 breaststroke (2:17.09).

Smith added a fifth-place finish in the 100 breaststroke in 1:00.84. Others finishing fifth were Sam Larsen '25 in the 200 backstroke (2:00.58, 17th all-time at Grinnell), Cooper Malone '25 in the 200 breaststroke (2:17.81) and Coelho Rodrigues in the 200 butterfly.

Taking sixth for Grinnell were Johnson in the 400 individual medley (4:21.26), Yuen in the 100 backstroke (55.22) and Zhang in the 100 freestyle (49.30). Yuen's time is 18th all-time at Grinnell and Johnson's 19th.

Grinnell's next action will be against Connecticut College on its winter break trip.

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Players Mentioned

Sam Heller: Junior

Ben Johnson: Junior

Luke Klein-Collins: Junior

Sam Larsen: First-Year

Dante Smith: Senior

Josh Sutton: Sophomore

Enrique Valero Ying: Junior

Bert Wang: Junior

Harvey Wilhelm: Sophomore

Ethan Yuen: Sophomore

Players Mentioned

Sam Heller
: Junior

Ben Johnson
: Junior

Luke Klein-Collins
: Junior

Sam Larsen
: First-Year

Dante Smith
: Senior

Josh Sutton
: Sophomore

Enrique Valero Ying
: Junior

Bert Wang
: Junior

Harvey Wilhelm
: Sophomore

Ethan Yuen
: Sophomore