Swimmers Start Campaign
Kenyon Dominance Continues in First Meet of Season
by Rob Smith

The swimming season officially kicked off on Oct. 27. Yeofish of both genders found themselves swimming in the NCAC relays hosted by Kenyon College. Kenyon is known as one of the premier swimming programs in NCAA Division III. True to form, Kenyon was victorious.

Kenyon won the women’s competition with a score of 160. The Yeowomen finished seventh out of eight teams with 62 points. “We improved much from last season. It seems like we’re really shaping up. The addition of transfer students and a good crop of freshman will really help us this year,” sophomore Julia Irwin said.

Kenyon also won the men’s competition with a score of 160 points, while the Yeomen finish seventh out of nine teams with 48 points.
Some of the better times recorded by the Yeowomen came from senior captain Celeste Mercer. Mercer bested all Yeowomen with a 29.14 in the 200-meter back relay and a 32.23 second time in the 200-meter breaststroke relay. Senior Jessica Vermeulen toped the Yeowomen in the 200-meter medley relay with a time of 26.78 seconds.
The best time in the 500-meter free style came from the team of senior Hannah Gottschall, senior Julia Handelman, first-year Lindsay Martin-McCormick and first-year Kim Davis. Davis posted the best time in the 1500 meter free event finishing in 5:51.27.
Mercer’s 28.11 second time in the 200-meter fly relays was the best of all Yeowomen, while she also topped all Yeowomen in 400-meter Individual Medley with a time of 1:05.32. Mercer was also the first Yeowoman to be selected as an All-American. She received that distinction last season.

On the men’s side, the 200-meter back relay’s best time came from sophomore Joel Ketner at 26.70 seconds. Sophomore Burt Betchart’s time of 30.56 seconds was the fastest time for all Yeomen in the 200-meter Breaststroke relay. The relay team of senior Rahula Strohl, junior Nate Fey, first-year Ben Pierce and Betchart finished with the better relay time comparing to the one other squad the boys sent out to swim.

Strohl’s 24.99 second time was the best Yeomen time in the 200-meter Butterfly relay. Pierce led all Yeomen to the finish line in the 1500-meter free style event with a time of 5:27.39. Ketner’s 58.84 second time in the 400-meter individual medley relay topped them all, while Pierce set the pace with a 23.19 second time in the 200-meter free style relay.

Both men and women swimmers look to improve during their next meet on Saturday, Nov. 3 vs. Denison University. The Big Red will travel to Oberlin for the meet, which will take place in Philips Gymnasium.

November 2
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