Sophomore Kurt Swieter competes in the finals of the 500 yard Freestyle on Thursday night. Both the men's and women's swimming and diving teams snagged a third place finish in the NCAC Championship. SAM CARAVANA / THE DEPAUW
GRANVILLE, Ohio -- “I’m kind of freaking out,” said junior Angela Newlon as she snapped on her swim cap next to the pool at Denison University. A few minutes later, the junior swimmer for DePauw would break the conference record in the 500 yard freestyle for the second time in under 12 hours.
Carried by fast times from all team members, both the men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams earned themselves third place finishes over the weekend at the Denison-hosted North Coast Athletic Conference Championship.
This is the fourth year in a row that both men’s and women’s teams have taken home the bronze behind national powerhouses Denison and Kenyon College.
The Denison men’s team took home the NCAC conference title for the eighth consecutive year with a score of 1,714.5, while the men of Kenyon secured second place.
Kenyon took home the women’s title for the 24th time in school history with a score of 1,975.5 points. Denison trailed behind with 1787.5.
The sweep by the perennial giants was no surprise to DePauw. In fact, the Tigers took it in stride.
“In a conference with Kenyon and Denison, you’re going to be fighting for third…but again we really try to focus back on performance and effort,” said Ben Hewitt, head coach of the women’s team.
The Tigers maintained solid times across the board with notable performances from seniors Amber Griesse, Morgan Graves and Dana Zerbini, junior Jamie Fritsch, and first-year Mary Woods.
Bolstered by a respectable team performance, Newlon took home NCAC Swimmer of the Year with first place finishes in the 500-yard freestyle and the 1650-yard freestyle.
“Seeing that time just made that pain and all the hard practices, everything, worth it,” Newlon said Thursday evening, shortly after breaking the conference and DePauw’s school record in the 500 free.
Newlon also secured a second place finish in the 400-yard individual medley.
Juniors Annie Graves and Kirsten Olson also stepped up to the plate over the weekend.
Olson earned second place in the 100-yard backstroke, followed by Graves, who placed fourth in the event. Graves went on to place fourth in the 200-yard backstroke as well.
Not to be outdone, the men’s squad had a number of swimmers exceed expectations and solidify the Tigers’ bronze.
“Really our younger guys I feel like stepped up for us, and even our juniors really stepped up,” senior captain Alex Grissom said.
First-years Timmy Spichiger, Eli Anderson and Zach Johns made contributions, earning a total of 165 points in various events.
Junior Jimmy McDonnell made his mark in the backstroke when he earned 37 points after pocketing a spot in the 100-yard and 200-yard finals.
“Those are kids that just stepped up and just really made a difference in the middle and propelled us forward," said head men's swimming coach Adam Cohen. "That to me is what it’s all about."
Past standouts for the men-- including seniors Grissom and Blake Lehmann, sophomores Mitch Davis and Kurt Swieter and first-year Adam Pircon-- performed on par at the conference meet despite little preparation.
The quintuplet had already qualified for the NCAA Championship and therefore did not rest leading up to the conference meet, unlike most competitors. This lack of rest tends to reduce the impact of their training schedule as they prepare for the National Championship.
Lehmann finished his weekend with second place honors in both the 50-yard free and 100-yard fly.
Sophomore Sam McManus, who has teetered on the border of a national invite, earned himself a silver in the 100-yard breaststroke on Saturday evening.
Sophomore diver Eric Addy helped to spring the Tigers up to the podium with a seventh-place finish in the one-meter board and an eighth place finish in the three-meter board. Addy has already qualified for the NCAA Regional Championships held at Denison on Feb. 26-27.
Following the NCAC championship, the men’s team is hoping to send up to 10 individuals to the National Championship. The women’s team also hopes to send six competitors in addition to Newlon.
Both teams will find out who made the national cut on Feb. 25, after all other conferences conclude their respective championship meets.
The swimmers will compete next at the NCAA Championship in Greensboro, N.C. on March 16-19.