LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Washington and Lee men's swimming team opened its season with a 1-1 finish on Saturday, defeating Centre, 216-63, and falling to DePauw, 171-109.

Five event wins highlighted the Generals' performances.

Seniors Wayde Marsh (Milford, Del./Salesianum School) and Rick Sykes (Wellesley, Mass./Wellesley) led the Generals with two first-place finishes each, including an NCAA B-cut time by Sykes in the 50 free (20.91). Sykes was also first in the 100 free in a time of 47.10, while Marsh placed in the top spot in the 100 back (54.26) and 200 back (1:59.42).

Senior David Ireland (Dayton, Ohio/Oakwood) notched the final first-place performance for the Generals, taking the top spot in the 200 breast, clocking in at 2:16.18.

In his debut as a General, first-year Alex Fox (Winston-Salem, N.C./RJ Reynolds) registered second-place performances in the 500 free (4:58.73) and 1000 free (10:13.44).

Junior Matt Hesser (Midlothian, Va./Governor's School) and first-year Brennan Haley (Westfield, N.J./Westfield) each collected a pair of Top 3 finishes on the day. Hesser finished in second place in the 100 fly (54.63) and third in the 200 back (2:02.33), while Haley took second in the 200 fly (2:04.32) and third place in the 100 fly (55.37).

Other top performances include first-year Daniel Pesin (Scotch Plains, N.J./Scotch Plains-Fanwod) in the 100 back (2nd, 55.25), Marsh in the 200 IM (2nd, 2:04.66), Ireland in the 100 breast (3rd, 1:02.46) and first-year Wesley Sigmon (Raleigh, N.C./Cardinal Gibbons) in the 200 IM (3rd, 2:04.95).

The 200 medley relay featuring Marsh, Hesser, Sykes and Sigmon finished in second place, touching in at 1:38.44. Sykes and first-years William Fries (Kirkwood, Mo./Kirkwood), Matt Kiser (Dunwoody, Ga./Dunwoody) and Harris Pritchard (Houston, Texas/Memorial) teamed up in the 400 free relay to take third place in a time of 3:15.44.

W&L returns to the pool on Friday, when it hosts Mary Washington at Cy Twombly Pool, set to begin at 6:00 pm.

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