WASHINGTON, D.C – The Catholic men's swimming and diving team began the new year with a 164-98 victory over Mary Washington on Saturday at the Dufour Center Pool. Of the 14 events throughout the day, Catholic took first place in all but two. Seven different Cardinals won an individual event and they completed two sweeps as a team.
 
Sean Kelty set the tone early for the Cardinals with a win the 1000 free. He finished the distance event in 10:10.46 to blitz the field by over six seconds. The sophomore also placed first in the 200 IM with a time of 2:01.07, out touching his opponent by 0.3 seconds to pick up his second victory of the day. 

Teddy Tsakumis and Jackson Hicks also secured two individual victories in the meet. Tsakumis stole the top spot in the 100 and 200 backstroke events by nearly three seconds, clocking a 52.97 in the 100 and a 2:01.80 in the 200. Hick found his success in the 100 and 200 breaststroke. He touched in 1:00.20 to beat his closest competitor by a second in the 100 and finished with over a four-second lead in the 200 (2:12.63) to kick start a Catholic sweep. Kelty and Bill Purcell followed to max out the Cardinals' points in the event. 

John Holler and Shawn Mashburn both recorded individual victories and a second-place finish against the Eagles. After touching in third at the 50-meter mark of the 200 free, Holler came from behind to win with a time of 1:47.94. He placed second in the 500 free with a time of 4:57.16 behind Mashburn who took first with a 4:55.78. Mashburn found his second-place finish in the 1000 free (10:16.86) in the other Catholic sweep on the day after Kelty secured first and Reid Knuckles (10:38.90) rounded out the the trio in third.

James Caldwell joined the winning circle with an excellent showing in the 50 free. The sophomore raced to victory with a time of 22.45 seconds in a heat that saw five swimmers finish within one second of each other. 

Jack Thompson was the seventh Cardinal to earn first after winning the 100 free. He clocked a 49.11 to top three Eagles who touched just behind him.

The Cardinals also won both relay events to cap off an impressive performance that gave Catholic its first win over Mary Washington in recent history. This marks the fourth consecutive season the Cardinals have competed against the Eagles and was their first victory in series history since before 2022. 

The Cardinals will remain home for their next meet on Friday, January 24 when they welcome Marymount to the Dufour Center for a non-conference match up starting at 1 p.m.