Swim Team Finishes Strong

Last weekend, Mary Washington’s men’s and women’s teams achieved a resounding sweep of Gettysburg College, with the men tallying a score of 187-75 and the women winning 177-85.

Anchoring the men’s victory were strong relay wins in the 200 and 400, where they finished in 1:38.54 and 3:17.84 respectively. There were strong performances by freshmen Nick Eckhoff and Peter Slattery, sophomores Austin Clark, Billy Norfolk and Brian O’Donnell and juniors Stephen Clendenin, Brad Dunn, who all achieved victories in their individual events as well.

The women’s side performed with equal impressiveness, also winning the 200 and 400 relay events (in 1:52.40 and 3:43.76, respectively) and individual event wins by senior Nina Sawyer, juniors Sarah Crockett and Adriana Lesiuk, sophomores Megan DeSmit and Kelly Scott, as well as freshman Cameron Figuers.

Coach Matt Sellman spoke well of the performances of his swimmers in last Saturday’s meet and was sure to mention the strong level of competition they faced.

“Gettysburg is always a tough team, and we knew they were going to be very amped for us,” Sellman said. “It was one of our tighter meets of the season, and also a rivalry meet of sorts. It was good to see us show up the way we did.”

The 2009-2010 season has been a strong one for the Eagles, as their victories have all come in sweep form against Washington & Lee, Gallaudet, Salisbury, Hood, St. Mary’s, York Marymount, and their most recent, Gettysburg. Their only loss of the season came against a Division I school, the College of William and Mary back in October, proving a strong level of competition regardless of opponent.

Sellman confirmed the Eagles’ love for the sport.

“We like to race and we love competition,” Sellman said. “We get confident, we get aggressive, and that showed [on Saturday] with good swims across the board.”

Sellman also mentioned how both teams were able to fight through the wear and tear of a season that begins in September and concludes in March, as well as the goals of his squads the rest of the way through the season.

“We practice harder as the season goes on, and sometimes, it’s impossible to be your absolute best,” Sellman said, “but we couldn’t have had a better meet out there.”

“We want to be [conference] champions,” Sellman said. “That is the end-all-be-all of what we’re doing out there. We want to walk away with the championship, make strong NCAA qualifying times and have a strong contingent at the NCAA tournament.”

Both teams will have a chance to rest up and practice hard until the Capital Athletic Conference Championships which take place Valentine’s Day weekend in St. Mary’s City, Maryland.