Junior Matthew Charest had a breakthrough race in the 50-yard breaststroke, winning All-NESCAC honors and tying the team record to highlight the first full day of the NESCAC Men's Swimming & Diving Championships for Bates College.
Charest (Lewiston, Maine) swam the preliminary trials of the event in 25.69 seconds, second fastest in the entire field, matching the team record set by Dan Walpole in 2017. In the evening session, Charest finished third in the championship final, earning his first career All-NESCAC award for his top-three finish.
On the second day of NESCACs, Charest placed fourth in the 100-yard breaststroke with a championship final time of 56.69 seconds, after posting a morning trial time of 56.68. Bates placed sixth in the 200 medley relay, with first-year Calvin Tuttle (Columbia, Md.), Charest, first-year Andrew Hall (Little Silver, N.J.) and junior Tanner Fuller (Wellington, Fla.) timing in at 1:32.96.
Then on the final day, Charest qualified for his third breaststroke championship final of the meet in the 200 breast with a trial time of 2:05.64. He finished eighth in the championship final at 2:06.54.
Bates passed Colby to take fifth place in the conference, matching the Bobcats' best place at the conference championship for the fourth time in five years.
