Bates first-year Gabby Smart won the conference title in the 200-yard backstroke to highlight the fourth and final day of the NESCAC Women's Swimming & Diving Championships, as the Bobcats finished in fourth place out of 11 teams in the final scoring.
Smart (Clinton, Mont.) swam the championship final in 2:00.48, 1.17 seconds ahead of runner-up Gwyneth Maloy of Williams, after registering the third-fastest time in trials (2:02.88).
It was Smart's third top-two finish at the meet: she placed second in the 500 freestyle on Friday (4:54.93) and second in the 400 individual medley on Saturday.
"Gabby showed us that she can compete against the best in the country when the stakes are the highest and most would cave to pressure," NESCAC Coach of the Year Peter Casares said. "She swam against the national champion in the 500 free and dropped time while pushing her. The next day she swam the 400 IM national champion and did it again!"
"On her third day, it was the Gabby show with her dominating the 200 back. She has the talent and skill to do it when it’s hard. And doing that as a freshman is pretty darn special."
Bates scored 1,193 team points over the four days, trailing only Williams (1,930.5), Tufts (1,593.5) and Amherst (1,369) while scoring well ahead of the rest of the field, led by fifth-place Bowdoin (849). It is the third straight year the No. 16 nationally ranked Bobcats have claimed fourth place in the NESCAC.
