The Grand Valley State University swimming and diving teams took on three opponents at Jenison High School Friday, though not in the typical sense.

First they swam against Michigan State University. Second and third, they set up fundraisers that not only helped them defend the East-West Showdown trophy against Wayne State University, but also helped battle cystic fibrosis, a cause that has become personal for the team.

In terms of the competition in the pool, GVSU assistant coach Roger Karn said the meet was rough. A night of hard-fought races ended with both the men (149-87) and women (155-82) dropping decisions in favor of Michigan State.

“It went about how we expected it to go,” Karn said.

He added the team is still in preparation for upcoming competitions at Ball State University and the Calvin College invitationals.

“They’re real tired,” he said. “They’re right in that part of training before we rest them up for our mid-season meets. They’re going to be sore, tired and broken down a little bit.”

Despite the loss, GVSU swimmers managed to compete in several events.

Junior Raphael Santos cut through the water far ahead of the competition in the men’s 200 backstrokes and finished with a time of 1 minute 52.07 seconds, a full 5.27 seconds ahead of Michigan State’s fastest swimmer.

Santos said he was happy with his both his own performance and the way his team handled the challenge of a Division I team.

“We never had a recovery day,” he said. “But I think overall, we did all right. It’s always good to swim against Big Ten programs. Overall we didn’t win many races, but I’m still pleased.”

GVSU head coach Andy Boyce agreed.

“This is our third time going up against State (at Jenison),” he said. “It really pushes our swimmers and divers to step it up, going against a Big Ten school.”

Another highlight for GVSU was Antonia Musto’s performance in the women’s 200 breaststroke. She finished with a time of 2:18.54, only 1.45 seconds short of the current school record.

The meet also provided the first, and possibly only, platform for fundraising this year for the East-West Showdown, a three-part competition between GVSU and Wayne State. The schools compete to raise the most money toward a charity of their choice, and they competed in a Jan. 8 men’s and women’s swim meet. The team that wins at least two of the three competitions takes home the trophy.

At Friday’s meet, the observation deck was loaded with tables where volunteers, mostly parents of swimmers, helped sell baked goods and promote participation in a tennis ball toss game, all in support of the rivalry.

Karn said the team chose Friday night for the fundraiser because the Michigan State meets always draw the largest crowds.

Karn wished for a large crowd based on more than just school spirit. This year’s competition will support the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Recently, Karn’s 1-year-old grandson Ethan was diagnosed with the disease. The decision to support this particular charity came from the team’s senior captains with Karn in mind.

“I was really honored, really touched that they chose something so close to my family,” Karn said.

Last year the swim teams raised approximately $1,800 toward breast cancer awareness.

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