FINAL RESULTS
MEN 
Monmouth 160 
Fairfield 102

WOMEN
Fairfield 136
Monmouth 126

WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ – The Monmouth University men's and women's swimming teams opened their 2021-22 season against Fairfield on Saturday afternoon at Steadman Natatorium.  

The men won by a 160-102 final score, while the women's team lost by a narrow 10-point margin. 

Freshman Georgia Watkins broke two school records in her collegiate debut, while Callan Smith won three individual races to lead the men's side to victory.   

NOTES & QUOTES  
"I think the big thing was that it was an exciting day for the swimming program to have fans back in the stands and to compete against a conference opponent and a strong opponent like Fairfield."

"The women took the defending conference champions down to the final relay and the men made a good statement of where we want to be in the conference and where we expect to be at the end of the season."

"I thought the team did a really good job in terms of its energy, mindset and approach. There was a lot of enthusiasm and excitement and today is definitely something to build on as we move forward." 
- Monmouth head coach Matt Nunnally   

- Georgia Watkins broke the Monmouth school record in the 1000 free and the 200 fly.
- Watkins' time of 10:49.07 set a new Monmouth record in the 1000-yard freestyle. It was four seconds faster than the previous school record set by Krysta Garcia in 2018.
- Watkins also set the 200 fly record with a time of 2:07.93. Cheryl Goerke's 2:08.62 was set in 1978 and stood for more than 40 years. 
- Callan Smith led the men's team with three first-place finishes in the 100 back (50.60), 200 back (1:52.32) and 100 fly (52.07). Smith increased his career victories total to 58.
- Alexandra Ho touched the wall first in the 50 free (24.44) and 100 free (53.69). Ho now has 18 career first-place times. 
- Sam Poching, Camryn McHugh, Thomas From, Dylan Edge, Sean Cook and Cole Dyson each collected individual wins in the meet.
- McHugh has 41 individual wins in her career after winning the 100 fly in 59.21. 
- Edge won the 14^th race of his career. Edge won the 200 fly in 1:55.37.
- From clocked in at 47.64 in the 100 free for his seventh career win.
- Cook's win in the 100 breast (59.19) was his second career triumph.
- Dyson won the 200 free for his second career win after hitting the wall in 1:44.81.
- Poching's win in the 200 IM (1:55.86) came in his collegiate debut.
- Monmouth's women won the 200-yard medley relay as Camryn McHugh, Alexa Houseknecht, Jensen Ritter and Alexandra Ho combined to win the race in 1:49.19.
 - Monmouth's men won the 400-yard freestlye relay with a time of 3:14.10 as Cole Dyson, Thomas From, Blake Reynolds and Sam Poching teamed up for the victory.  
- Alexa Houseknecht, Jensen Ritter, Ashley Jean, Gracie Preslar, Corinne Pepper and Georgia Watkins all made their college debuts for the women's team.
- Dean Beyer, Duncan Collins, Noah Ferker, Leo Fricker and Sam Poching swam for the men's team for the first time.

UP NEXT 
Monmouth travels to New York City on October 22 for a dual meet against Fordham. The Hawks and Rams are scheduled to compete at 4 p.m.