Senior Day on the Island provided a fitting backdrop for a historic afternoon at Hedges Pool, as a pair of Loomis Chaffee sophomores delivered record-setting performances in a home meet against Deerfield Academy on Saturday, February 21. 

Sophomores Christopher Nelson and Matt Cormier led the way with a triad of standout swims that rewrote the record book. Nelson opened the meet's individual events in the 200-meter freestyle, touching the wall in 1:52.18, a time that broke his own Loomis school record, set a new Hedges Pool record, and established a new New England record. 

In the next race, Cormier charged to a five-second personal best in the 200-meter individual medley (IM), finishing in 2:07.97 to set a new school record. His time finished just 0.40 seconds shy of the pool and New England records. 

Nelson added to his historic day later in the meet with a dominant performance in the 100-meter backstroke, swimming a 56.70 to break the Loomis school record, the Hedges Pool record, and the New England record. Cormier followed with a win in the 100-meter breaststroke, touching the wall just 0.07 seconds off the school record. 

Before the afternoon's competition began, the Pelicans recognized members of the Class of 2026 during a Senior Day ceremony. Honored seniors included co-captain sprinter Wyeth Andrews, diver Georges DeVos, freestyle and backstroke swimmer Tintin Ding, co-captain breaststroker Jerry Li, co-captain sprinter George Mirgorodskiy, and co-captain butterfly and IM swimmer Chris Zeng. 

Loomis opened the meet with a strong showing in the 200-meter medley relay, finishing first and third. The relay team of junior Andy Vuong, Cormier, Zeng, and freshman Gavin Berky claimed the top spot. After the record-setting swims in the 200 free and 200 IM, Zeng added a second-place finish in the 50-meter freestyle, helping the Pelicans hold a five-point lead heading into the diving event. 

After the break, Zeng captured first place in the 100-meter butterfly. Deerfield responded with 1-2-3 finishes in the 100-meter and 400-meter freestyle events and a win in the 200-meter freestyle relay. Momentum shifted again when Nelson delivered his record-breaking 100 backstroke, followed by Cormier’s victory in the 100 breaststroke. In that race, Li placed second with a huge personal best, lowering his time by more than four seconds. 

The Loomis 400-meter freestyle relay team of Vuong, sophomore J.C. Liu, Nelson, and Zeng closed the meet with a second-place finish. Deerfield earned the team victory by a score of 106-77. 

Despite the result, the Pelicans came away with numerous lifetime and season-best performances from Mirgorodskiy, Andrews, junior Dean Tran, junior Jack Haegele, junior Ethan Feng, freshman Daniel Mirgorodskiy, and freshman Eric Zhang.  

Loomis now turns its attention to postseason preparation ahead of the Founders League Swimming Championship on Saturday, February 28, followed by the New England Championships on March 7.