AOTW: Rathgeber Dominates at Easterns, Earns Top Honor

Junior Geoff Rathgeber left his mark on Princeton’s DeNunzio Pool at the Eastern Intercollegiate Swimming League Championships last Thursday, receiving Most Outstanding Swimmer of the Meet honors. Rathgeber tied with Yale’s sophomore Alex Righi for most accumulated individual points (96), and shared the coveted award with the sophomore Bulldog.

Rathgeber set three new pool records in the 200-yard individual medley, 400-yard individual medley and 200-yard back. His performance in the 200-yard individual medley, where he clocked in at 1:46.11, became the fastest time in Harvard and Easterns history, as well as being the second-fastest time in the nation for this season.

“Rathgeber swam better than anybody I’ve ever seen,” said junior Sam Wollner.

In addition to his three first place victories, Rathgeber also helped the Crimson capture second place in two relays. The 200-yard freestyle relay, consisting of Rathgeber and teammates sophomores David Guernsey and Bill Jones and junior Pat Quinn, touched the wall in 1:21.66, and the 400-yard medley relay team of Rathgeber, Quinn, senior Jason Degnan-Rojeski and sophomore Dan Jones finished in 3:13.61. These performances helped the Crimson snag a second place team finish on the weekend, falling to the host Tigers by a score of 1405-1220.5. Though it was the second straight loss to Princeton, Rathgeber’s individual performance helped soften the blow.

“I was excited and surprised with my performances,” he said. “Each time I hit the wall it just felt great to see my time and get another victory for the team.”

Senior co-captain Brian Fiske was full of praise for his teammate.

“Time-wise, it was mostly Geoff who had a great meet,” said Fiske. “Geoff had some phenomenal times.”

The exceptional performances of Rathgeber, namely his showing in the 200-yard individual medley, earned him an automatic spot in the NCAA Championships in Minneapolis on March 15. It will be his third consecutive trip to NCAA’s.

“I’m really looking forward to swimming against some competition that is top-notch on the national and international scale,” said Rathgeber.