Swimming & Diving Shines
by Rachel Decker

The Oberlin swimming and diving team completed their 2001-2002 season this last weekend, in what Head Coach Dick Michaels said was “one of their best performances in a long time.”
Approximately 30 members left for Canton, Ohio on Friday the 15th, where they competed in the North Coast Athletic Conference Championship. Racing against schools such as Kenyon, Denison, Wooster and Ohio Wesleyan, the men claimed seventh place out of nine competing teams and the women finished seventh of eight teams, falling short of a sixth place finish by only a few points. Oberlin has never placed higher than sixth in the NCAC Championship.
Although none of the Oberlin swimmers were able to officially qualify for Nationals, hope of an Oberlin contender in the NCAA Division III Championship is still alive. Senior Celeste Mercer was less than one second off of the required time for the 100m backstroke. She raced a B-cut time of 59.80 that will be considered when the final competitors in the National Championship are decided later in the year. The Case Western Reserve University Classic, the last official and regional meet of the season, will be held on Saturday and will be her last chance to attain the required time for competition in the NCAA Championship.
Nearly every competing Oberlin swimmer achieved the fastest times of their entire careers, known as LTBs, or “life time bests.” Among the women who achieved LTBs were sophomores Adrienne Zoller in the 100 and 200 yard breaststroke and 50 yard freestyle, Lindsay Martin-McCormick in the 200 and 500 free, Meagan Dunphy-Daly in the 500 free and 100 and 200 yard breast, Angelina Calderon in the 500 and 1650 free, and Meagan Huelsenbeck in the 50, 200 and 100 free, first-year Kim Davis in the 200 backstroke, and seniors Karen Grushka in the 200 butterfly, Rebecca Ducore in the 500 free and Dawn Sweeney for the 200 individual medley and 100 backstroke.
Members of the men’s team who swam LTBs were first-years David Kreiss-Tomkins in the 200 individual medley, 100 and 200 breast, Ben Pierce in the 50, 100, 200 and 500 frees, Gabo Golden in the 200 individual medley and 200 butterfly, and Greg Bussard in the 200, 500, and 1650 free, sophomores Charles Treatman in the 100 and 200 back, Burt Betchart in the 100 back, and Joel Ketner in the 100 and 200 breast, junior Todd Wedge in the 500 and 1650 free, and senior Nathan Gross in the 200 and 500 free. Many swimmers also achieved LTBs in the 200 and 400 free relays and the 200 and 400 medley relays.
The swimmers put in a lot of work over the course of the season, swimming two and a half hours daily and lifting weights. Many members of the team dedicated all of Winter Term to training and competitions. “We had a great group this year,” Michaels said.
First-year Gabo Goldman was also pleased with the overall energy and achievements of the team this season. “Everyone improved themselves and that’s pretty much what we were all hoping for.”

Abby Brethauer, a senior at swimming powerhouse Kenyon
See Swim Team, page 16
College, befriended the team during her collegiate swimming career and after this weekend’s competition sent out an e-mail to the Oberlin team stating, “You all swam wonderfully this past weekend...And while I know that some of you were not quite where you would have liked to have been, I would have to say that on the whole you really stepped it up and competed with a spirit that I could only dream about.”
Michaels also complimented the effort put forth by the team this year. This was one of the lowest recruitment years in recent history, but this did not impede their progress. The men’s team, composed largely of first-years and losing only one senior with this year’s graduating class, will be able to go strong from the start next fall. Although the women will be losing a much larger faction of their team (10 seniors in all, one being All-American Celeste Mercer), Michaels is still “anticipating a great year.”