After an opening meet against Loyola, the swim team turned things around with a strong showing in their first multiple-team Patriot League meet of the season.
On Sunday, men’s and women’s swim teams from Lafayette competed against Navy, Bucknell and American in Annapolis, Md. Although they fell to American and Bucknell, the Leopards came out on top over American.
The events for the Lafayette men were highlighted by a second place finish in the 200-meter freestyle relay and great performances by juniors Sam Haines and Alex Schon in the 100-yard and 200-yard butterfly. In the 100-meter, Haines took second, while Schon took third for the Leopards.
“The meet started off a little tougher,” Haines said. “It took me two events to find my groove. Once we got to the 100-meter butterfly, I was pretty happy with my results”.
Swimmers on the team believe that their offseason training helped their performance during the meet.
“We were training really hard for the past few months,” said Haines. “The whole team has been working a lot harder in the weight room, and so that helps with the shorter races.”
The team has set goals in preparation for the next meet.
“We beat American and that was our goal for the meet,” Haines said. “This week and next week we are going to work on finding our racing speed in practice and focus less on hard yardage.”
The women’s team had a good showing, highlighted by a third place finish in the 200-yard freestyle relay and an overall strong performance by sophomore Julia Hall and freshman Sariyah Sherry. The team did well, but didn’t match up to their first meet.
“This past weekend, I did okay, but I wanted to do a lot better,” Sherry said. “The last meet that we had, which was our first meet, I went two seconds faster in the 100 free and then I swam three 50s and they were all slower this weekend. I’m still fine with my performances, but it would have been nice to go a little faster.”
Sherry, after leaving disappointed in her results at Navy, is looking to rebound in a big way at the meet against Lehigh.
“I’m very excited to see what is to come in the future,” Sherry said. “It’s Laf vs. Lehigh, so the excitement and energy is going to be a lot more hyped, plus it’s home. I think putting all those factors into consideration I think I’ll do better.”
On the men’s side, optimism is also in the air. After performing well at Navy, the men’s team has high expectations for its meet against Lehigh.
“Our coach thinks we’re going to do really well, he’s been really impressed with our hard work in the pool,” Haines said. “There’s definitely excitement on the team, as everyone hopes to swim some best times.”
The Leopards will face off against Lehigh on Nov. 18 at the Weinstein Natatorium.