This coming weekend, both the men's and women's Tigers swimming team will be wrapping up their meets at the Total Performance Sports Camp Invitational, hosted annually by Kenyon College. The women's team is coming off a second place finish at Wabash's Patrick Woehnker Invitational. Freshman swimmer Angela Newton (O'Fallon, Ill.) was the star of the meet, winning the 400-yard individual medley, finished second in the 500 freestyle and the 200 free, and also competed in the 800 free relay, a first-place finish for the Tigers. On the 25th of November, Newlon was named North Coast Athletic Conference women's swimmer of the week.
For the 800, junior Emily Weber, Kirsten Olson, and sophomore Dana Zerbini finished the finals in 7.50.23, and leading with 40 points. The University of Indianapolis came in second, with 34 points, with another DePauw team of Caroline Bridges, Erin Horne, Maggie Lomasney, and Jennifer Norehad, placing third.
The women are prepared for their meet at Kenyon. The team has held practices two times a day in preparation for their big mid-season invite.
"This weekend is the Kenyon Invite and we are resting a little for this meet. We will put fast suits on and should treat this like Conference because we will be competing against some really great teams and this is a three day meet with prelims and finals. I think going to this meet is a great idea and I am really excited for it because it helps us get in the racing mindset and also helps us prepare for conference. I am really excited to see how well we do as a team and show the other schools that we are a threat and will put up a good fight. ", said Weber.
For the men's swimming team, the Total Performance Sports Camps Invitational is equally as important. The team is coming off a strong outing at the Patrick Woehnker Invitational, with Alex Grissom and Casey Hooker taking individual wins at the meet. Grissom took home the 200-yard freestyle with a 1:44.46 finish. Hooker won the 100 butterfly, finishing in 50.80.
Junior Alex Alfonso finished the 200 individual in second place, only to Grimson. Alfonso stressed the importance of the Total Performance Sports Camps Invitational.
"This meet is extremely competitive. They reorganized the meet so that, originally going in, we'd be a mid-tier team. Now, with the teams they're invited, we're more towards the bottom end. We've put in a lot of good work so far. Everyone's shaving and wearing fast suits so that will help. We need to have a big meet if we want to keep improving. Kenyon has a beautiful facility - it will be another amazing opportunity racing there."
Both men's and women's swimming will wrap up their meets this Saturday.