Last season, the DePauw men's swim team traveled to Wabash College during Monon Bell week and won by a margin of 30 points (165-135).
This season, the Tigers pounced on the Little Giants in their own pool.
DePauw beat rival Wabash in a blow out victory 205-89 Wednesday night. Freshman Casey Hooker set his third straight pool record in his third collegiate meet. Hooker broke the DePauw pool record in the 1,000 freestyle with a time of 9 minutes, 41.77 seconds, the previous pool record being set in 1998 at 9:41:77. Hooker also won the 500 freestyle with a time of 4:40.35 and was part of the winning 400 free relay team alongside freshmen Matt Bacinich and Alex Alfonso, and senior John Montgomery.
"We wanted to come out and make a statement not only for us but also for the upcoming Monon Bell game this Saturday," Hooker said. "I've had great success, but I need to keep working hard, I've got my eyes set down the road on nationals, so I just need to keep working towards that goal."
The team has now won three meets in a row and sits at 3-0 on the season with a week off before hosting Wheaton College on Nov. 18. The team has a lot of freshmen, but head coach Adam Cohen said he is very happy with the senior leadership early in the season.
"The seniors have been really strong," Cohen said. "It's hard when you have that tough of a talent under you nibbling at you for your spots. The seniors have to step up, be the leaders and find their spot on this team."
With an impressive freshman class that brings speed and motivation to the team, the upperclassmen are looking to maintain energy in practice. Senior captain Dylan Klossner said the team needs to keep up the hard work they have shown thus far in the season.
"We need to focus because it is a wild group of people, and we need to stay motivated and train hard," Klossner said. "It doesn't matter if you are the fastest or the slowest on the team, but we need to practice hard everyday. We need to stay motivated and keep the momentum up that we have had in the first three meets."
With junior Matt Kukurugya out on Wednesday due to a shoulder injury dating back to last year, the team was looking for someone to step up in the meet against Wabash.
"Everyone talks about Alex Alfonso and Casey Hooker as the notable freshmen, but the unsung hero today was [freshman] Jordan Bantista," Cohen said. "With Matt Kurkuyga out, Bantista really stepped up and won the 100 and 200 breast stroke for us today."
Other winners in Wednesday's meet include Montgomery who won the 200 freestyle in 1:46.64 before sophomore George Morrison added a win in the 100 backstroke in 54.41. Sophomore Matt Gleason won the 200 butterfly in 1:56.04, the 100 fly in 51.88 and the 200 individual medley in 1:59.60. Alfonso was a 50-free winner in 21.69 and led the way in the 100 free with a time of 47.67.
Klossner said the team had a lot of people step up today, not only in the results, but in the team's mentality.
"Its great to see Casey Hooker go really fast in his events, but it was those swimmers that brought it up in third or fourth place that were motivating others to swim hard and keeping a positive attitude on deck," Klossner said. "It was really those unsung heros of the meet that were really important today."
The team is in its inaugural year in the NCAC and is up against two of the best men's swimming teams in the nation. Hooker is not letting the success the team has seen thus far in the season get to his head at this point.
"Conference will be very tough. It's our first year in the NCAC so we are really looking to make a statement this year," Hooker said. "We need to keep working hard and not let these wins get to us because they are already in the past."