St. Louis, Mo. – The Washington University in St. Louis men's swimming and diving team defeated Division I St. Louis University 123-91 to open the season on Friday evening.
 
The Bears started the day with a win in the 200 medley relay, as the team of Kyle Wolford, Nathan Lin, Jonathan Ma and Kai Garren won in 1:34.43. The group of Alexander McCormick, Jonathan Kim, Mason Rhode and Reece Bends finished fourth with a time of 1:36.86.
 
In the next event, the 1,000 freestyle, Kenneth Yeh was the top finisher for WashU, taking fifth place in 10:26.20.
 
Mark Lipkin finished second in the 200 freestyle, swimming to a time of 1:45.44 while Bends took third in 1:45.69. First-year Matthew Walker also finished in the top five, taking fourth with a time of 1:46.53.
 
Austin Bick led the way in the 50 freestyle, winning in 21.39 while Jonathan Ma took third in 21.91 and Garren finished fourth with a time of 22.03.
 
First-year Ethan Feng won the field in the 200 IM, swimming to a time of 1:54.83, followed by Danny Sibley in second place with a time of 1:57.07. Kim finished third in 1:59.01.
 
The Bears swept the top seven spots in the 100 butterfly, led by Ma with a time of 51.54. Rhode came in second in 52.37 while first-year Andy Zhu finished third with a time of 52.47.
 
Bick won his second race of the day in the 100 freestyle, swimming to a time of 47.10. Bends took second in 48.02 while Lipkin rounded out the top three with a time of 48.75.
 
Sibley was the top Bears' finisher in the 500 freestyle, swimming to a second-place time of 4:47.45. First-year Orluke Borjigin took third in 4:48.11 while first-year Matthew Giardinelli finished third with a time of 4:51.83.
 
Kim finished fourth in the 100 breaststroke to lead the Bears in that event, racing to a time of 59.17 and Zhu rounded out the top five with a time of 1:00.97.
 
In the final race of the day, WashU's team of Bick, Lipkin, Nicolas Gomez and Justin Rockaway finished in second, just a hair behind SLU, with a time of 1:26.71. Wood, Pace Edwards, Ryan Hillery and Yeh took fourth in 1:30.48.
 
The Bears now take a break from competition until October 29 when they travel to the University of Chicago.