NEWARK, DE – Senior Kyle Wu grabbed three wins to lead the Johns Hopkins men's swim team to a win over UMBC in the Blue Jays' season opener. Hopkins also lost to a strong Delaware team in the Blue Hens' home pool.
 
"It's always great to hit the road for some strong competition and to see our first-years race for the first time," said head coach Scott Armstrong. "I was impressed with the teams' cohesion and ability to fight to the very end of each race. We have some big shoes to fill with the crew we graduated last year, but today this team proved they are up to the challenge!"
 
Hopkins kicked off the season with second and fifth-place finishes overall in the 200 Medley Relay. Senior Steven Rua, Wu, freshman Avery Clapp and senior Spencer Ryan swam a 1:33.47 to beat Delaware by two-tenths of a second. Freshman Bryce Lloyd, junior Justin Limberg and Reef Ide and freshman Christian Mayr combined for a time of 1:34.77.
 
Junior Kellen Roddy beat the field in the 1000 Free as he touched the wall in 9:32.73 to win by more than eight and a half seconds. Sophomore Daniel Byrnes finished in fourth with a time of 9:58.81. Wu earned the first of his three wins on the day when he clocked in a 1:41.14 to win the 200 Free by 2.58 seconds.
 
Lloyd took fourth overall in the 100 Back as he finished in 52.35 and beat Rua by just two-hundredths of a second. Senior Brandon Stride placed third overall in the 100 Breast with a time of 59.36. Limberg followed in fifth place with a 59.50, just one-hundredth of a second out of fourth. Freshman Andrew Huang grabbed second in the 200 Fly with a time of 1:54.97, edging Delaware's Jack Hattery by five-hundredths of a second. Sophomore Jonik Surprenant placed fourth in 1:57.09 and freshman Matthew Hartshorn placed fifth in 1:57.38.
 
Wu picked up win number two as he touched first in the 100 Free with a time of 46.73. Lloyd then took second overall in the 200 Back as he swam a 1:53.43. Rua placed fifth (1:57.85) and beat Hartshorn by one-hundredth of a second. Stride paced the Blue Jays in the 200 Breast with a third-place finish overall and a time of 2:07.49. Sophomore Joe Castagno placed fifth (2:09.899) and classmate Mitchell List followed in sixth (2:11.47).
 
Roddy grabbed second place in the 500 Free as he finished in 4:38.00. Sophomore Eric Ji placed fourth (4:43.15) and Surprenant placed fifth (4:50.40). Clapp then took second in the 100 Fly with a time of 51.02. Ide finished in a tie for sixth with a time of 52.44. Wu earned his third win in the 200 IM as he clocked in at 1:53.00. Huang finished in fifth place (1:57.89) and Castagno placed sixth (1:58.47).
 
Hopkins wrapped up the day with third and sixth-place finishes overall in the 400 Free Relay. Rua, junior Jay Heymann, Byrnes and Mayr combined for a 3:10.61 and third place. Ryan, Lloyd, Ji and Roddy finished in 3:13.05 for sixth place.
 
JHU returns to action on Saturday, October 15 at William & Mary.
 
Notes: Hopkins has now won two straight against UMBC and the win is just the third in the series' history.