Swimming Takes Top Honors at Columbia Tri-Meet

Columbia, South Carolina- The Brenau swimming and diving team defeated Piedmont (Ga.) University 776.00-511.00 and host Columbia (SC) College 797.00-251.00 at the Columbia Tri-Meet this past weekend. 

Brenau showed well in the relay events as Sophie Bell, Nele Behrendt, Francesca Pastori, and Ana Alves captured top honors in the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:56.04, while the other Golden Tigers relay team of Hannah Tomlinson, Adriana Oetzel, Sofia Bellocchio, and Emily DiMaggio also earned second place in 2:01.95.

The Golden Tigers again finished with high marks as the 200 freestyle relay team of Abi Binns, Francesca Pastori, Olga Bukowska, and Ariel Furhman earned second place in 1:47.28, and the second relay squad of Erin Watterson, Emily DiMaggio, Manuela Horta, and Hannah Tomlinson placed third with a time of 1:51.06. 

Individually, the Golden Tigers excelled as the squad posted eight individual first-place winners at the event. Sophomore Sofie Bell won the 100 backstroke with a time of 1:01.97 and also garnered first-place honors in the 100 freestyle in 56.89. Bell also added a second-place mark in the 200 IM in 2:25.62.

Fellow sophomore Sofia Bellocchio also took first place in the 50 backstroke in 29.88, while also notching a pair of second-place finishes. The Katowice, Poland native won both the 400 IM with a time of 4:53.86 and the 500 freestyle in 5:30.46, and also added a second-place nod in the 100 backstroke in 1:07.24.

Freshman Francesca Pastori continued the strong performance by collecting a pair of top honors, first in the 100 butterfly (1:03.12) and then another in the 500 butterfly (27.87). 

Newcomer Erin Watterson also won the 50 breaststroke in 35.26 and added a pair of solid finishes in the 100 breaststroke (4th place/1:21.19) and  200 IM (sixth place/2:31.09).  

Other individual finishers include:

Ana Alves: third place, 500 freestyle, 5:48.89; fourth place, 50 backstroke, 31.80; 

Nele Behrendt: second place, 400 IM, 5:15.56; second place, 100 breaststroke, 1:14.77; 

Abi Binns: second place, 200 freestyle, 2:06.88; second place, 100 freestyle, 59.65; third place, 50 freestyle, 27.18; 

Emily DiMaggio: fourth place, 100 freestyle, 1:01.18; fifth place, 50 freestyle, 28.21; 

Ariel Furhman: second place, 50 freestyle, 26.89; third place, 50 breaststroke, 36.50; fourth place, 500 freestyle, 5:53.26; 

Manuela Horta: second place, 50 backstroke, 31.08; third place, 50 butterfly, 28.96; 

Sylvie Jacques: fifth place, 200 freestyle, 2:49.14; sixth place, 50 backstroke, 41.34; eighth place, 50 freestyle, 31.44; 

Adriana Oetzel: second place, 50 breaststroke, 36.06; seventh place, 50 butterfly, 35.12;  

Hannah Tomlinson: third place, 200 IM, 2:25.62;  third place, 100 breaststroke, 1:15.30; 

The squad takes a short break before continuing the fall slate at the 2025 Small College Invite in Columbus, Ga. on November 20-22.