The DePauw women's swimming team began its season on a good start on Oct. 13 in Louisville, Ky.
Defeating Centre College and Washington and Lee University, the Tigers dominated their opening meet.
"It's a strong group of women as a whole, and we are definitely a competitive team," head coach Matt Ense said.
This is Ense's first season as DePauw's coach, taking the job from Mary Bretscher, who had been the head coach since the program's inception 37 years ago.
So the pressure was on during the first meet.
"The first meet was kind of a test to see how people compete," Ense said. "The team really came together in Louisville, with a new coach and a large amount of freshmen, everything was just getting started."
Their start was not a bad one. The Tigers won against Centre 183-107, and they defeated Washington and Lee 157-143.
Junior Allison Kirby led the way with three individual wins in the 100-yard breaststroke, 200 breaststroke and the 200 individual medley. Along with Kirby was freshman Caroline Bridges who claimed first place in the 100 freestyle.
"In academic terms, I used that first meet as a quiz and our midterm is the DPU invite in December," Ense said. "So we're just trying to set ourselves up for the rest of the season."
The rest of the season is looking very bright for the team, especially with Ense's leadership.
"I don't feel any pressure [being new], the nice thing is Mary is still here," he said. "This was her program for 37 years, so I know she is still very invested.
"We're trying to fix and be better at the little things and just be better all the time."