Men’s swimming team begins season at MIAA Relays

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Olivet College men's swimming team kicked off the 2012-13 season tonight by competing at the unscored Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) Relays tonight at the Venema Aquatic Center in Grand Rapids. The meet also marked the first official competition for first-year Olivet Head Coach Elise Knoche.

Olivet's best finish was in the 200-yard medley relay. Nick Edgar (Lansing/Eastern), Adam Rhein (Leonard/Romeo), Georges Aoun (Barquisimeto, Venezuela/San Vicente de Paul) and Nick Aldrich (DeWitt/St. Johns) placed second with a time of 1:38.11. Aldrich had the fastest freestyle split in the race at 21.23 seconds.

The Comets' finished third in each of the 200-yard stroke relays. On the backstroke relay was Edgar, Brandon McShane (Southgate/Anderson), Eric Dawdy (Holt) and Joel Knight (Battle Creek/Lakeview), and their time was 1:42.34, with Dawby posting the second-fastest split in the race (:24.68). Rhein, Phil Bielak (Brownstown/Woodhaven), Aldrich and Taylor Howard (Fort Wayne, Ind./Homestead) swam on the breaststroke relay and finished in 1:52.10. Aoun, Edgar, Tyler Russell (Bay City/Central) and Knight were on the butterfly relay, and stopped the clock at 1:38.34.

Also finishing in third was the 100-yard freestyle relay and 4x100-yard individual medley relay. The freestyle team of Ben Aldrich (DeWitt/St. Johns), Jake Brooks (Owosso), Aoun and Howard touched the wall in 40.74 seconds. The IM relay consisted of Aoun, Nick Aldrich, Alec Thurston (Kingsford) and Dawdy finished with a time of 3:52.21.

Olivet will host Calvin College in its MIAA dual meet opener next Saturday, Oct. 27, at 1 p.m.