Swimmers on the men’s swimming and diving
team practice for their upcoming meet.
SAM CARAVANA / THE DEPAUW
Months of intense training paid off for both the DePauw’s men and women’s swimming and diving teams over the weekend as they closed out the calendar year at Kenyon College.
Both teams participated in the three-day Total Performance Sports Camp Invitational hosted by Kenyon College that took place from Dec. 4 through Dec. 6. The field for the meet included Division I teams such as Pennsylvania University and Davidson College, as well as Division III opponents in Grove City College, Kenyon College, John Hopkins University and Carnegie Mellon University. With such talented opponents in the next lane, both squads placed relatively low with the men landing in fifth place and women in sixth.
Adam Cohen, the head coach of the men’s team, was not concerned with his squad’s placement, however.
“That’s not really a focus for me,” Cohen said.
Instead, both teams went into the meet attempting to get as many members to qualify for the National Collegiate Athletic Association championships. In order to ensure individuals were at their peak for the meet, both teams “tapered” before the competition.
Tapering techniques vary, but generally they entail a reduction in the intensity of practices so athletes will be able to swim their fastest in competition. The men’s team committed to a full taper starting the week of Thanksgiving.
“It varies person to person, but it can take one to three weeks,” Cohen said.
The women’s team took a different approach.
“We only did a three day rest for this meet,” Erin Horne, a senior captain on the women’s squad, said.
The full taper paid off for the men’s team who had 12 members post times that could potentially allow them to qualify for the national championship. Out of the 12, eight swam qualifying times in both individual and relay events.
All of DePauw’s qualifiers made “B” cuts meaning they swam faster than a set time for their event. This does not guarantee them a spot at nationals, as only the 12 swimmers with the best times are invited.
Senior standouts Casey Hooker and Alex Alfonso were likely national qualifiers.
After his “B” cut times at Kenyon, Hooker is expected to compete at nationals in the 500, 200 and 100 yard freestyle and the 200 yard butterfly. Hooker will also swim the 800, 400 and 200 yard freestyle relay and the 200 yard medley relay.
Alfonso posted “B” cut times in the 200 yard individual medley, 100 yard butterfly and the 100 yard freestyle, in addition to his times in the 400 yard freestyle, 200 freestyle, and 200 yard medley relays.
Joining Alfonso in all of his relay events will be junior Blake Lehmann. Individually, Lehmann swam “B” cut times in the 50 yard free, 100 yard free, 100 yard backstroke and 100 yard butterfly. In the 200 freestyle relay, Lehmann broke a difficult 20-second barrier with a time of 19.74.
Teammate Alex Grissom also had a standout meet achieving “B” cuts in the 200 and 500 yard freestyle. He was also a member of the 400 freestyle relay that broke the school record this weekend by .01 seconds.
Other men’s team members that received “B” cut times were seniors Chris Ercoli and Jordan Bantista, junior Stephen McMurtry, sophomore Brandon Sholtis and first-years Kurt Swieter, Dan Rice, Sam McManus, Mitch Davis and Dan Rice.
“This was one of our most successful meets ever,” Cohen said.
Grissom echoed his coach, “It was probably the most guys ever getting “B” cuts.”
By getting their national qualifying times out of the way in the middle of the season, the men’s team is set to make a deep run at nationals. Instead of tapering for the North Coast Athletic Conference like the women’s team, the men’s early qualifications allows those that made “B” cuts to strategically taper going into nationals. This ensures that the swimmers have their peak performance when it matters most—the national championship.
The women also had a successful weekend at Kenyon. Sophomores Angela Newlon and Kirsten Olson, who found success last season making it to nationals will likely make the trip again this season. At Kenyon, Newlon scored herself a national qualifying time in the 500 yard freestyle while Olson also swam a “B” cut time in the 200 yard backstroke.
Despite only two members making qualifying times, Horne is not worried.
“Not having 'B' cuts is not a big concern yet, because when we do have the full taper… we should be able to get where we want to be,” Horne said.
Both the men’s and women’s teams will start up again in 2015 with meets on Jan. 3.