Last Thursday, swimmers and fans alike buzzed with excitement at the Middlebury College Natatorium as the women’s swimming and diving team kicked off the first of four consecutive days of racing at the NESCAC championships.
The #19 ranked Panthers finished the regular season with an impressive 5–2 overall score and ended their season with a splash on Sunday night, securing a third-place spot behind Tufts University and Williams College — their highest finish since the 2014-2015 season.
Hosting the championships in Middlebury’s own natatorium not only gave the team more fans, but also a boost of momentum in a highly competitive meet. The energy was electric as the first competitors dove into the 800-yard freestyle relay, an event that scored Middlebury 72 points and left them in third place after the first day of competition. Throughout the weekend, each Panther battled in the pool to qualify for night sessions and maintain the team’s standing.
Top individual finishes for the Panthers included Chloe Katz ’25 in the 1000 and 1650-yard freestyle, Maddy Reid ’25 in the 100-yard backstroke, Louise Hay ’24 in the 200-yard freestyle and Fayanne Salzburg-Smith ’27 in the 200-yard breaststroke.
“It’s been unreal, honestly — having a big parent section and student section supporting us, having our men’s team members there to time and help work the meet but also an extra set of voices to help cheer on has been great,” Hay, a captain of the team, told The Campus. “We obviously feel really comfortable in this pool and racing in it so I think that’s helped us a lot and it really has been a great environment to help boost us forward.”
While home-pool advantage may have given the team an extra boost, it formed just one part of their success. Hay’s co-captain Hailey Vandenbosch ’24 credited the impressive finish to the team’s rigorous training all season leading up to the NESCAC meet.
“What you’re seeing isn’t luck — it’s a culmination of really hard work and it’s really exciting to get to see that payoff for the whole team,” Vandenbosch said. “Behind this really great meet is two months of preseason hard work and then a number of months of the full season where everyone has been putting in their effort day in and day out.”
After finishing fifth at NESCACs last winter, the team’s third place finish this time around was especially striking in light of the fierce competition; five of the participating teams hold national rankings in the College Swimming Coaches Association of America’s top 25 (Williams #4, Tufts #9 and Bates College #21), making a third-place spot no small feat.
To close off the meet, the team competed in the 200-yard butterfly and 400-yard freestyle relay, accumulating a total of 1,020 points by the end of the weekend.
While some team members swam times good enough for NCAA ‘B’ cuts and will await the official selections for the NCAA championships later this month, the women’s swimming and diving team has a lot to be proud of this season. Their hard work, dedication and enthusiasm led them to surpass last year’s finish in the conference championship and earn a much-deserved podium finish to cap off an impressive 2023-2024 season.
