Pandamonium at Midd's Natatorium

Author: Allison Ortega

While many Middlebury students were enjoying sunny beaches in the Caribbean or the comforts of home, the men's and women's swimming and diving teams remained hard at work at the Natatorium during the break in preparation for the upcoming NESCAC Championships. In addition to valuable practice time in the water, captain Liz Rice '07 noted, "We spent some time doing team bonding and we have just been relaxing together - it is nice to have the time to spend not doing schoolwork. It gives us the opportunity to get pumped up for championships."

After dropping the season's opening meet to Amherst, the team has cruised to six straight victories, including the first victory in the history of the program over Williams on Jan. 27.

On that historic afternoon, the 200-yard medley relay team of Catherine Suppan '09, Katie Chambers '08, Marika Ross '08 and Barbara Van der Veer '07 got the team off to a fast start claiming victory in the meet's opening race. "There was a team-wide level of energy and adrenaline that just caught Williams by surprise, said Rice. "Our excitement over our victory in the first relay event really carried over into the rest of the meet."

In addition to her role in the relay victory, Ross also captured three individual events, winning the 200 free, 100 free and the 100 fly. Ross noted that Coach Peter Solomon adjusted the team's line-up in order to pick up points in events that Williams was not expecting.

"I was just really excited and nervous," said Ross. "The 100 and 200 freestyle are not my usual events, so I was very nervous about performing well. Pressure is a good motivator for me."

Katie Soja '10 picked up two key victories in the 500 free and the 1,650 free. Chambers added two victories of her own in the 100 and 200 breaststroke and Alanna Hanson '08 triumphed in the one and three-meter diving competitions.

"The girls came together in an extraordinary way that made beating Williams a true team-wide effort," said Rice.

Despite several recording-setting swims, the men lagged behind the Ephs, who earlier this season had beaten Division I Boston College.

In the first event, Zach Woods '09, Tim Lux '07, John Rayburn '07 and Rob Collier '07 set a new record with their victory in the 200 medley relay. Later, Rayburn teamed with Kevin O'Rourke '09, Schuyler Beeman '10 and Jake Pepper '08 to set another record in the 200 free relay.

Woods, who captured the 100 and 200 backstroke, was the lone Panther to pick up two individual victories. However, Lux, Beeman and John Dillion '10 also won individual events.

The Panthers also competed in the non-scoring MIT Invitational on Jan. 2 and 3. "It was a good opportunity for the team to race in a well-known, fast pool and to compete against some teams that we usually do not," said Rice.

The women will return to action on Feb. 16 at Williams for the NESCAC championships, while the men have an additional week to prepare before heading to Bowdoin on Feb. 23.