The male swimming Ducks paddle their way to victory

The Stevens men’s swimming team started their 2019-20 season amazingly on Saturday. They were able to triumph over Widener University in their first match of the season. The men won 202-60 in an amazing display.

The male Ducks scored over 200 points for the first time in a dual meet in program history.

First up, senior Daniel Rosenberger started the day off for the Ducks with a win in the 1000-yard freestyle, finishing in a final time of 10:16 (minute:second), which was 20 seconds faster than any other competitor. He also notched a victory in the 500-yard freestyle, touching the wall in 4:55. An amazing performance for him as he gave Stevens 18 points all by himself to lunge Stevens ahead of Widener early.

Then, junior Theodore Jagodits was able to win the 200-yard free in a time of 1:47. This gave the male Ducks a high advantage over Widener. Later in the day, Jagodits also won the 100-yard freestyle after swimming a time of 48 seconds.

Senior Tyler Zanki, the reigning Empire 8 Swimmer of the Year, swam 27 seconds in the 50-yard breaststroke and 58 seconds in the 100-yard breaststroke to win both events.

In his first ever collegiate meet, Chaithanya Dasari pulled off a phenomenal effort and looked fantastic. The freshman grabbed victories in the 100-yard butterfly and breaststroke with times of 54 seconds and 55 seconds, respectively.

Also, senior Christopher Rudel and sophomore Daniel Hold also picked up individual wins for the Ducks, with Rudel picking up first place in the 200-yard individual medley and Hold winning the 50-yard backstroke.

Rounding out the winners for the Ducks, Junior Kurt von Autenried took home the individual titles in the 50-yard freestyle and the 50-yard butterfly. He finished in times of 21 seconds and 23 seconds in each event to grab the victories.

The male Ducks won both relays. The combination of Dasari, Zanki, von Autenried and Jagodits swam a 1:37 to win the 200-yard medley relay while Jagodits, Rosenberger, von Autenried, and sophomore Michael Shusta earned the win in the 200-yard freestyle relay with a final time of 1:43.

It was a picture perfect opening day for the Ducks as they seemed to dominate the swimming competition and they have a lot to look forward to this season.