The swimming and diving team began its season last Saturday in Baltimore in a dual meet against Loyola Maryland. The women fell to the Greyhounds 227-73 while the men lost 235-65.
“We had a lot of ups and downs at the meet,” junior Sean Robinson said. “Some people swam very fast, some swam okay and we had some not-so-good races. Our freshman class looked very good at the meet.”
Senior Maya Byrne had the same assessment of the freshman squad.
“The meet itself was really tough but it was great to see how our new team was interacting and energizing each other, especially the freshmen,” Byrne said. “For many people, individual times were better than last year at this meet which is a positive reflection of how the rest of the season will progress.”
On the men’s side, the team’s best performances came from freshman Nebraska native Landon Orth, who won the 1-meter dive and took second in the 3-meter dive. In addition, freshman Charlie Barker had the Leopards’ best performance in the 100-yard and 200-yard freestyle and another freshman, Alex Reihl, topped the team’s stat sheet in the 50-yard freestyle.
Junior and captain Peter Kawash had the team’s best performance in the 100-yard backstroke and the 200-yard individual medley.
“Overall, I’d say it was a good first meet performance,” Robinson said. “Loyola is a very strong team and while we lost, we now know where we are as a team in terms of racing. We have a lot more training to do before our next meet against Colgate.”
On the women’s side, sophomore Isabella Van Ess came less than a second away from breaking the school record for women’s 100-yard breaststroke and also placed second in the 200-yard breaststroke. Junior Maggie Ivie had third and fourth-place finishes in the 200-yard and 100-yard backstroke, respectively. Freshman Sarah Newman was the team’s highest-placing swimmer in the women’s 50-yard and 100-yard freestyle.
Sophomore Katie Hensell won the women’s 3-meter diving event while junior Shaylee Daniels placed second in the 1-meter dive.
“Our league is made up of really fast teams but something that can always be improved upon is mentality,” Byrne said. “Swimming is a very individual sport so keeping a positive mindset going into every remaining meet will be something to keep improving on.”
This trip was the team’s first meet of the season and thus served as a basis for building the team’s chemistry.
“Driving down there as a team is always fun, we talk a lot on the ride and hype builds the closer we get,” Robinson said. “We have become pretty close with the freshman class for how early in the season we are, which is good for team morale.”
“Our team is a close group and we like to have fun when at practice or at meets,” Byrne said. “It’s hard to be upset or stay upset when you have everyone around you trying to lighten the mood. It’s always hard to tell how the season will go from the first meet but I think everyone is confident in the training that we have been putting in, so there is hope for a good season.”
The team will look to build in its first home meet of the season next Saturday against Colgate.
