There was high intensity in Erdmann Natatorium on Saturday as the Tigers came out on fire and captured a win over rival Washington University in St. Louis.
DePauw more than doubled the Bears' score at the men's swimming home opener Saturday afternoon, winning 193.5- 86.5 and propelling the team to a 3-0 start for the season. The Tigers swept the boards with 12 finishes in first place, seven finishes in second and six in third, not including a double-win in the diving competition.
The meet started with a win in the 200-yard medley relay, swam by sophomore Alex Alfonso, junior Matt Gleason, senior Matt Kukurugya and freshman Blake Lehmann. Alfonso placed first again in the 100 backstroke just three races later.
"It was really good to see Matt Gleason and Alex Alfonso begin to take charge as upperclassmen and returning all-Americans," head coach Adam Cohen said.
Gleason led the team with 27 points as he finished first in the 200 butterfly, 100 fly and 200-yard individual medley. However, the crowd buzzed with talk of Gleason's mustache.
"(Olympian) Mark Spitz had a mustache, and he won seven gold medals, and that's the only comparison I have, so we'll see if I can live up to that after this race," Gleason said.
Freshman Alex Grissom finished first in the 200 free at 1:45.36. In the long distance competition, sophomore Casey Hooker took first in the 500 free and the 1000 free.
"We have gone back and forth with Wash-U - they beat us my freshman year, and last year we beat them," Gleason said. "This year, we were a little worried and excited coming in because we knew they were going to bring some good competition."
Lehmann dominated the 50 and 100 free sprints with two first-place finishes. DePauw led 59-34 before the one-meter diving competition. The breaststroke events were the only races the Tigers didn't take first place.
In the 200 back, junior George Morrison took first with a time of 2:00.51. The 400 free relay team of Lehmann, Grissom, Alfonso and junior Jack Burgeson ended the day just like it started, with a win.
"We have some things we need to work on," Cohen said. "We have to focus on our goal of top ten, and it's going to take a lot of hard work."
DePauw will swim in their first conference meet against Wittenberg University on Saturday at 3 p.m. in the Erdmann Natatorium.