Ladies drop two meets before rallying at MIT

Author: Sarah Poling-Luehrman

A four-meet winning streak ended for the Middlebury women's swimming and diving team when they faced first Williams, perennial NESCAC champions, on Jan. 29 and then Dartmouth, a Division I team, on Feb. 2, both in the Middlebury Natatorium.

Williams proved to be the toughest competition the team has faced thus far, and although Middlebury lost 167-131. "The competition between the two schools was tighter than what the score might suggest," said Head Coach Peter Solomon. The Panthers won 7 of 16 events, and in some of those they lost, they finished behind by mere fractions of a second. "Had we been able to pull off just two more close wins," said Solomon, "the team scores would have come out 151-147 in our favor. To be only two wins away from dethroning a team that has only loss 1 dual meet in the past 120 competitions is something that I am very pleased about."

Marika Ross '08 had a particularly good meet against Williams, with three first place finishes in the 100 fly, 200 fly and 400 IM. Her time of 4:35.09 in the 400 IM broke a varsity record and qualified as an NCAA "B" standard, while her times of 57.87 in the 100 fly and 2:04.62 in the 200 fly broke the varsity record and the pool record and qualified as NCAA "A" standard. Her consistently strong swimming also contributed to the 200 free relay team's outstanding performance.

Barbara Van Der Veer '07, Pam Chatikavanij '08, Liz Rice '07 and Ross finished second to Williams, but their time of 1:39.28 earned the team another NCAA "B" standard recognition. Sara Cowie '08 also contributed a strong individual performance and took first place in the 500 free and the 1650 free. Her time of 17:44.46 in the 1650 free earning yet another NCAA "B" recognition.

At the other end of the pool, Middlebury divers stepped up to the board and performed outstandingly against Williams. Not only did Tessa Truex '05 deliver two more first place finishes in both the 1m and 3m diving categories, but Alana Hanson finished just behind her in the 1m category, both divers earning NCAA recognition.

"We can hang with this team," says Solomon. "NESCAC's is just around the corner, and if we compete like we have all season long, and our swimmers and divers 'step-up', then perhaps we can become the first team since 1987 to beat Williams at a Conference Championships."

The following weekend's 113.5-144.5 loss to Dartmouth proved that "our team was a little flat coming off a big weekend with Williams," commented Solomon. "On a different day, I think we could have beaten Dartmouth." Nonetheless, Ross set two more pool records in the 50 Fly with a 26.56 and in the 100 IM with a 1:00.23, also a varsity record.

The MIT Invitational on February 5th marked the last meet of the regular season before the NESCAC Championships. Team scores were not kept at MIT. It was all about racing the clock.

"The swimmers and divers got out the razors, and literately shaved seconds off of their times to finish the year with some personal best times and scores," commented Solomon. "You could sense the excitement and spirit of the team watching teammate after teammate touch the wall only to celebrate another great performance."

Individual performances continued to impress - Ross picked up wins in both the 200 free and the 500 free, Cowie won the 200 fly, Anna Blasiak '07 won the 200 breast and Truex added yet another diving victory to her season with a first place win in the 3m competition.

The MIT Invitational was significant meet for the Panthers, especially those who will not be able to compete in the NESCAC meet, as there is a roster limit of 24 swimmers. For some, the meet was their last racing opportunity this season.

"If attitude and work ethic were the only criteria used in the selection process, many of the athletes finishing up this past weekend would have been the first names on our conference roster," said Solomon. "I have the utmost appreciation for all that these individuals bring to our team, and couldn't have been happier to see all their hard work pay off in big dividends this past weekend's meet at MIT. It was an appropriate finish to their great season."

NESCACs are coming up for the swimming and diving team, and they will be hosted at Middlebury for the first time on Feb. 18 and 19. The Panthers will be training hard until then, hoping to give their strongest performance yet and make Williams fight harder than they have ever had to.

"Wouldn't it be the perfect script to our season, considering that this is the first time our school has ever hosted the championships." said Solomon of the prospect of beating Williams. The team can only swim as they have been and round out a competitive and successful season.