MIDDLEBURY, Vt. – The Connecticut College men's swimming and diving team opened the 2022-23 season with a dual meet at Middlebury College on Saturday afternoon, falling by a 152-145 final at the Natatorium.

The Camels captured first-place finishes in 10 of 16 events on the day. Justin Finkel (Cheshire, Conn.) grabbed the top spot in four events, three as an individual and one as part of the 200 medley relay squad. Kai Listgarten (San Mateo, Calif.) also took top honors in both the 1- and 3-meter diving events.

Conn started the meet strong, winning the 200 medley relay behind solid swims by Matthew Morris (Alexandria, Va.), Sean Geisler (New Paltz, N.Y.), Finkel and Julien Legros (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.). The group checked in with a time of 1:34.21 to narrowly edge the Panthers by just over a half second.

Matthew Laclef (Bethesda, Md.) set the tone for Conn's freestyle swimmers in the next event, winning the 1,000 free in a time of 9:59.25. The Camels went on to win five of the six freestyle events in the meet, with Finkel capturing the 100 (47.75) and 200 (1:43.50) and Geisler coming out on top in the 50 (21.49). 

Morris also picked up an individual win in the 100 back (52.83), and Finkel notched his fourth and final victory in the 100 fly (51.55). Listgarten dominated the diving events, besting four Middlebury competitors with 271.20 points in the 1-meter and 242.70 points in the 3-meter.

The Panthers led 146-134 heading into the final event, needing only a second-place finish or better in the 200 free relay to secure the win. Conn did its best to play spoiler, as the team of Geisler, Morris, Mitchell Lockwood (Winchester, Mass.) and Legros took home the top spot. However, Middlebury finished second to nab the winning points.

Conn College returns to action at the Connecticut Cup on December 2-3 at Wesleyan University.