Both the College of Staten Island men’s and women’s swimming programs fell on Saturday, losing to Lehman College in a dual meet held in the Bronx, New York.  The CSI men dropped a 120-94 decision to Lehman, while the women lost an equally close decision, 115-85.

On the men’s side, CSI took first place honors in eight of the day’s 14 events, but it was Lehman’s depth and their performance on the boards that moved them past the Dolphins in the pool.  The foursome of Vladislav Romanov, Timur Rakhimov, Danila Novikov, and Andrey Tarasov took top honors in the 200-yard Medley Relay to kick off the event with an impeccable time of 1:38.00, a full five seconds ahead of the rest of the pack.  Rakhimov the followed with another gold in the 1000-yard Freestyle, turning in a time of 10:47.30, almost five minutes ahead of Lehman’s Nikiray Colon.

Lehman took control, however, winning three of the next four events, including a sweep in diving, and wins in the 50 and 200-yard Freestyle events.  Novikov kept the Dolphins in it with a first place finish in the 100 Butterfly and Romanov followed moments later with a win in the 100 Backstroke, but thanks to their depth, Lehman was able to win every other place to accumulate more points.  In a very heated race, CSI’s Rakhimov narrowly edged Tarasov in the 100 Backstroke by a slim 0.63.  The Dolphins also took a solid win in the 200-yard Freestyle relay to end the event with Jian Wang, Nolan Reese, Mitchell Lovell, and Novikov, but by then Lehman had already clinched victory.

It was similar on the women’s side, as CSI’s top swimmers stayed neck-and-neck with Lehman, only to see the Lightning prevail thanks to solid scoring throughout the competition.  CSI held a modest early lead, scoring a win on the 200 Medley Relay thanks to Lauren Overeem Shannon McCormick, Vasiliki Stergioula, and Priscila Alvarez, and Overeem adding a second place faring in the 1000 Free.  After six events CSI still had an advantage, especially after Stephanie Collyer scored gold in diving.

From there, however, the meet belonged to Lehman.  With the exception of diving, Lehman won the next four events, led by great performances by Adriana Navarette, who won both 100 Free and 500 Free events.  CSI finished by taking the 200 Free Relay, but again, Lehman had already banked their winning points.

Both CSI teams will return to action for a non-conference dual meet on Tuesday at 6pm against SUNY-Old Westbury at the Sports & Recreation Center.