After a long winter break, the Iona College Men’s Swimming Team was back in action at the Hynes Center Pool on Jan. 18.

The Gaels were paired up against Saint Peter’s College, who they previously had beaten at the Loyola Invitational. However, in the rematch, the Peacocks defeated Iona by the score of 135-96.

In the opening event, the 400-yard medley relay, Iona’s relay consisting of freshmen Ralph Porrazzo, Matthew Stelnicki, Tyler Elfert and junior Cameron Hudson took second place in 3:39.52.

In the 1000-yard freestyle a pair of Gaels led the charge. Freshman Nick Kotonias was able to keep pace and take first with a time of 10:17.48, and sophomore Joseph De Leone was the runner-up with a time of 10:22.99.

Next, freshman Justin Grigull swam to a second place finish in the 200-yard freestyle touching the wall in 1:48.33. Teammate Porrazzo took fourth in 1:50.11.

After anchoring the opening relay, versatile Hudson inched out a victory in the 50-yard freestyle in 22.81, while senior Graham Weir was third in 22.90.

In the 200-yard butterfly, Kotonias was not able to notch a second win and took second in 2:03.72 losing by under a second.

In the 500-yard freestyle Iona swept the top three positions. Grigull paced the field in 4:59.60, while De Leone followed in 5:02.75. Rounding out the sweep for Iona was sophomore Zach Benoit who placed third in 5:06.96.

In the 200-yard breaststroke, sophomore Chris Yacobacci took second for the Gaels in 2:11.99. Freshman Chris Giovine was just seconds behind in third in 2:13.24.

Closing out the night, the relay team of Grigull, Weir, De Leone and Yacobacci took second in the 400-yard freestyle relay in 3:24.99.

The Gaels second relay consisting of freshmen Lee Stiles, Stelnicki, junior Trevor Creighton and Wallace was third in 3:35.25.

The Gaels have been working hard over the long break, and Coach Nick Cavataro commented on his team by saying, “I knew we were tired and beat up, however, I thought we had enough scoring on the men’s side, but we just couldn’t overcome them today. St. Peters has a very talented core group of guys.”

Cavataro was also happy with his top swimmers, by saying, “It was good to see Cameron Hudson produce in the 50-yard free and the 100-yard free as well as Justin Grigull in the 500-yard free.”