The Bates women's swimming and diving team not only defeated Middlebury head-to-head for the first time since 1994 on Sunday, but the Bobcats also did so by a surprisingly large margin: the final score was 175-119 in Bates' favor.
Senior Gabrielle Sergi (Newburyport, Mass.) had a lot to do with the team's benchmark performance, winning two individual events and helping to win both relay races as well.
Sergi made a statement in the opening race of the day, catching her Middlebury counterpart from behind on the final leg of the 200-yard medley relay and touching the wall first for a 0.26-second victory. Bates' time of 1:50.46 broke the six-year-old pool record set by none other than Middlebury in 2008. Sophomore Whitney Paine (Moultonborough, N.H.), first-year sensation Sara Daher (Marblehead, Mass.) and senior Emilie Geissinger (Darien, Conn.) joined in the effort.
Sergi also anchored Bates' winning 200 freestyle relay team, which also set a Tarbell Pool mark with its time of 1:39.82, surpassing the record set by another crew of Bates women in 2009.
Joining Sergi on that race were Paine, sophomore Lindsey Prelgovisk (Oakland, Maine) and first-year Shelby Rader (Duxbury, Mass.).
Sergi, who won All-NESCAC honors last year in the 50 freestyle and the 200 freestyle relay, also finished first Sunday in the 50 freestyle in 24.64 and the 100 free in 54.39.
