PITTSBURGH, Pa. – October 16, 2021 – The Chatham swimming teams split their season-opening matches with Hiram, with the women winning 149-81 and the men falling 140-73.
 
The women got out to a blazing fast start, winning the first nine events that featured at least one Cougar and one Terrier. The quartet of first years Maddy Cisco, Sydney Sweger, Amy Jarvis and sophomore Abigail Glasspool made an immediate splash with a final time of 2:01.16. In the 1,000-yard freestyle, senior Charity Fannie cruised to a victory with a 12:20.50 final time.
 
Jarvis went on to win the 200-yard freestyle at 2:07.23, leading the pack of three Cougars that finished in the top three in that event. Junior Carlee Shreve was second at 21:13.83 and first year Megan Lis finished stroked to a third place showing at 2:20.46. Sophomore Rachel Lloyd (32.06), first year Gracie Van Laar (35.18) and Fannie (35.19) also finished first, second and third, respectively, in the 50-yard backstroke.
 
First year Lexie Ray won the 50-yard breaststroke with a final time of 36.46, narrowly edging out Sweger who wrapped up at 36.70. Glasspool won the 100-yard butterfly with ease, finishing at 1:07.86. Cisco (25.69) and classmate Lauren Angus (27.85) also finished in first and second for the 50-yard freestyle.
 
The Cougars continued to roll in the 100-yard freestyle when Jarvis won her third event of the day, the 100-yard freestyle, finishing at 58.67. Glasspool wasn't far behind at 1:00.39, good for second in the event. Cisco won the 100-yard backstroke at 1:03.26 while Lloyd (1:10.51) and senior Faith Fannie (1:15.19) claimed second and third, respectively.
 
The Cougars dominated the 100-yard breaststroke with all four swimmers finishing in the top four. Angus led the pack at 1:18.28, Sweger was second at 1:19.33, Ray was third at 1:21.15 and first year Madison Rovenolt was fourth at 1:24.14.
 
For the men, sophomore Karl Gangloff picked up right where he left off, winning all three individual events he participated in. Firstly, he won the 1,000-yard freestyle with a time at 1:05.51, over 45 seconds better than second place. His other two wins didn't come as easily, winning the 100-yard butterfly at 1:00.85 and the 100-yard breaststroke at 1:09.08, just .33 seconds ahead of second place.
 
Junior Nathan Kerchensky also had three wins under his belt. He easily won the 200-yard freestyle at 1:58.86, narrowly won the 50-yard freestyle at 24.52, and dominated the 500-yard freestyle at 5:35.10, almost a full minute ahead of second place.
 
The Cougars are back at against Penn State Altoona at home on Saturday, October 23 starting at 1:00.