The DePauw women's swim team opened its season at home against Washington University in St. Louis Saturday.
The Tigers lost 171-125, bringing their record to 2-1 as the season is now in full-swing.
"We have a young team," head coach Matt Ense said. "The last meet was their first college meet, and this was their first college home meet, so some nerves play a factor, but when you have their friends cheering them on it helps to bring a calm."
The Erdmann Natatorium had a crowd up above the pool, providing the boost that a team needs in a home competition.
"To see a pretty much packed house, and to have the support of faculty, parents and friends of the swimmers," Ense said. "I think they really felt the energy and they kind of helped loosen them up a bit."
Even though the final score did not end in DePauw's favor, some of the swimmers had good meets.
Freshman Caroline Bridges finished first in both the 50-yard freestyle and the 100 free. Along with Bridges, junior Allison Kirby took first in the 100 breaststroke and 200 breaststroke as well as fourth in the 200 individual medley.
But there are still details to improve this season, such as turns and finishes.
"If we can fix those, it'll help improve our overall time throughout the entire race," Ense said.
This meet was a good challenge for DePauw, who has only beat Washington twice in the program's history.
"They just had a strong freshman class this year, and it's good to have a quality opponent on our schedule each week," Ense said. "It helps to set our kids up for the end of the year because we are seeing good competition and being able to really compete each week."