MIDDLETOWN, Conn. — The Amherst College men's swimming and diving team launched its NESCAC Championship campaign with a high-octane opening stretch, delivering a statement relay performance Thursday night before charging into Friday morning's prelims with momentum and depth.

The Mammoths opened the meet under the lights in the 800-yard freestyle relay and wasted no time making noise. Amherst's A squad of Jack Goepfrich, JP Giglio, Ethan Van De Water, and first-year Owen Vale powered to a fifth-place finish in 6:38.38, earning an NCAA 'B' cut and immediately putting the Mammoths into the team race. Amherst's B relay also scored, placing 15th behind strong legs from Henry Liu, Henry LeCates, Michael Jang, and Teddy Sun.  

After the opening event, Amherst sat tied for fourth place overall with 68 points, firmly in contention in a tightly packed team standings race.  

Thursday morning's prelim session saw the Mammoths hit the water with urgency across multiple events. In the 50-yard breaststroke, junior Eric Albers (26.08 seed) and sophomore Jeffrey Ge (27.60) highlighted Amherst's entries, while senior Fyn Nadel entered the meet as one of the top seeds at 25.83, positioning themself as a major finals contender.  

Sprint butterfly action featured a deep Amherst lineup led by senior Henry LeCates (22.89), sophomore Cameron Aryanpour (23.08), senior Usim Odim (23.27), and first-year Roan Haney (23.75), giving the Mammoths multiple scoring threats heading into finals.  

Distance depth showed in the 500-yard freestyle prelims, where Amherst stacked heats with entries including Goepfrich (4:43.42), Michael Jang (4:42.47), Benjamin Robins (4:42.23), and Charlie McMillan (4:54.32), signaling strong scoring potential in one of the meet's deepest events.  

In the 200-yard IM, rookie standout Owen Vale entered as one of the fastest swimmers in the field with a 1:50.18 seed, while Henry Liu, Teddy Sun, Joel Chen, and JP Giglio gave Amherst a powerful multi-lane presence across heats.  

The Mammoths also showed their sprint firepower in the 50-yard freestyle, where Ethan Van De Water (21.39), Cameron Aryanpour (21.59), and Tom Conaty (21.62) all entered with top-tier seeds in one of the fastest events of the meet.  

With finals sessions looming and points up for grabs across the board, Amherst positioned itself as a dangerous contender heading into the heart of championship weekend.