NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. — Wagner Swimming & Diving finished its first meet of the season on Saturday by falling short against Iona and Sacred Heart at the Hynes Center Pool in New Rochelle, NY. Despite losing against both squads, the Seahawks earned multiple top-three finishes during the meet.

Starting with the men's team, junior Ben McLaughlin competed in both long-distance events at the meet. He won the 1000-yard freestyle event with a 9:45.25 time, almost six seconds ahead of the second-place finisher. Freshman Hunter Johnson also raced in the event, and finished third with a 10:02.22 time, making it the only event at the meet where multiple Seahawks finished in the top three.

McLaughlin continued his successful day with a second-place finish in the 500-yard freestyle event, completing the race in 4:44.98, less than two seconds behind the winner. His fellow junior, Florian Schumich, also had a good day in the pool. The Austria native won the 200-yard butterfly event with over three seconds to spare (1:51.72), and placed third in the 200-yard backstroke (1:53.59) to finish his day.

On the women's side, senior Brooke Woolfe highlighted her performance with a second-place finish in the 200-yard backstroke (2:08.49). Her teammate, senior Rachael Harris, also collected a top-3 finish, when she finished third in the 200-yard butterfly, completing the race with a 2:12.22 time.

Finally, four of Wagner's newcomers combined to finish third in the women's 400-yard freestyle. Freshmen Emily Ross, Camila Bossa and Kenna Stinson joined sophomore Alice Sjoden to collect a 3:44.03 time in the last women's event of the day.

The team results are listed below.

Men: Iona def Wagner 168.5 – 65.5
Women: Iona def Wagner 172 – 51
Women: Iona def Sacred Heart 184 – 51

The Seahawks will return to the pool on Saturday, Oct. 24, when they travel to West Long Branch, NJ to take on Manhattan and host Monmouth. The meet will start at 11 a.m. at the Richard E. Steadman Natatorium.