Rowan men’s swimming suffered a loss to No. 11 Johns Hopkins on Friday, Dec. 6 by a final score of 207-55 at the Newton White Natatorium in Baltimore, Maryland. The loss dropped the Profs’ record to 2-3 on the season.

Despite the lopsided score, head coach Brad Bowser still thought there were still some good takeaways.

“It’s so hard with dual meets because you kinda know going in whether you’re going to win or lose the meet, our goal is to come out of it with faster times and be competitive,” said Bowser. “It’s going to be hard going against a program like Hopkins that has the depth to go top-three in several events. I felt like we were there in the front half of our meet and we just ran out of steam towards the end. I don’t think the score justifies the level of competitiveness our program brings.”

To Bowser’s point, Rowan still had standout times recorded throughout the meet. Sophomore Gavin Danze recorded a personal best during the 1000 free (9:33.75) and placed third in the event. Senior Jack Watson won the 100 free (45.66), which also marked the second-best time seen in that event for the Profs this season.

Watson gave his perspective on what the results meant for not only him but his teammates as well.

“We went into that meet knowing that Hopkins is a very good team, so for us, we were looking to just get good competition,” said Watson. “I think given the circumstances, like traveling two hours and a new pool that no one has ever swam in before, I think we all did well.”

Watson, combined with James Bygott, Alex Volin, and Gavin Luong, placed second in the 200-medley relay (1:32.89). Luong also placed third in the 50 free (21.57), the third-best time recorded by a Prof in that event this season.

Rowan now faces a month-long hiatus from competition due to winter break, with the team not seeing live action until a two-day meet against The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) in mid-January. Both Bowser and Watson discussed how the team would stay fresh and prepared during their time out of the water.

“Just get better, faster, building bonds and staying in shape over break,” said Bowser. “The teams that can continue not having holes in their training over a period of time like this where it’s gonna be 14 days are the ones that have success come February. It’s really a lot of time that they’re away from us, but it’s needed for them mentally to prepare for the second half of the season.”

“I want to stay focused on the end goal,” said Watson. “Conferences and nationals come late February and early March. We just gotta know that if we slack off these next couple of weeks, it’s gonna make the end of the season much harder than it needs to be. So just staying focused on that end goal.”

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