RIVERDALE, N.Y. - The Manhattan Men's swimming team struggled in their meet with the Iona Gaels on Friday night, falling by a final score of 117-145 at Riverdale Country Day School.
The meet did see some exciting action as in just the second event, Jasper fans were given a thrilling showcase. The 200 medley relay team of Cullen Balcanoff, Dennis Daly, Scott Isaacs and Robert Varieur pulled off an incredible comeback as Varieur swam a 45.30 freestyle leg to give his team a final time of 1:40.25 a mere .06 seconds ahead of the Gaels whom they trailed the entire event.
Varieur would once again show off his incredible speed with a blazing 22.55 second performance in the 50 meter freestyle to take first in that event as well. He would however finish second in the 200 meter freestyle, just a second behind the Gaels' first place finisher in another very tight race.
The rest of the meet would not be as fruitful for the Jaspers (6-2) as Iona would go on to win nine of the other 12 events. In the 200 meter freestyle relay, the team of Ryan Klages, Mike Scire, Mickey Ruddy, and Varieur won with a 1:31.32 combined effort.
Manhattan will return to action on Sat., Nov. 5 when they host Bridgeport at 2 p.m. at Riverdale Country School. The match is a part of the first ever Alumni meet for the Jaspers which will include a friendly meet between past and present swimmers as well as a dinner immediately after.
To follow Manhattan Athletics on Twitter, go to twitter.com/GoJaspers or visit Manhattan's Facebook fan page.