Yeofish swim strong in NCAC conference finals

Mercer and Limouze earn a trip to the Nationals

Oberlin swimming shaped up, sucked it in and shaved it off this past week. Both the men and women swam to respectable finishes in the most competitive conference in Division III this weekend. For the first time in years, both teams finished outside of the cellar, placing seventh in a stiff competition featuring eight rival colleges.

The North Coast Athletic Conference championships, held in Oberlin's own Carr pool, began with the diving finals Wednesday, Feb. 10. When the full meet got underway on Thursday, the women were first to pounce. Oberlin varsity records were broken in all five relay events. "We swam out of our heads and did awesome," first-year sensation Celeste Mercer said. "The meet was really emotional, really loud, and just a lot of fun."

Individually, Mercer performed as well as she has done all year, placing third in the 200 fly and setting an Oberlin record of 54.11 in the 100 freestyle. Mercer is ranked first in the country for the Division III 100 yard backstroke. "Celeste, without a doubt, is the best we've ever had," said coach Dick Michaels. "She will be an all-American." Mercer will swim nationals in Miami of Ohio next month, a meet she qualified for with her strong performances last December.

Several senior women - captains Clara Stemwedel and Sarah Titus among them - finished their Oberlin swimming careers this past weekend. "It was a good way to go out. One would be hard pressed to say we didn't have a good season," Stemwedel said.

The men's side boasted several team and individual highlights as well. If Celeste Mercer was the star for the women's team, sophomore John Limouze was her counterpart for the men. Limouze won the 200 yard butterfly with a time of 1:53.93; in doing so, he became the first conference champion on the men's side since 1995. He will be heading for nationals ranked second in the nation for the 200 butterfly. "Both Celeste and John have put in double workouts at 7 a.m. starting September first. John was fifth last year and three out of the five ahead of him graduated. He beat one of the remaining two this weekend," Michaels said.

As a team, the men performed as well as they could considering their limited numbers. "Everyone had a good meet," said senior Matt Soellner. "The whole season we were low on people but it was fun and we did well." Soellner and senior co-captain Jeremy Steinhauer will be graduating this year, leaving even fewer men for the team next season. "It was a great four years and I'm sad to see it go," Soellner said.

All agree that both teams swam exceptionally well. "The seniors performed and, for the talent we had, we did extremely well," Michaels said. Next year hopes to bring in fresh talent for both teams. "This year was just a kick in the pants. I'm excited for next year," Mercer said.

Nationals begin March 11 for the women and March 18 for the men.

Look out below! A Yeofish dives to glory at the NCAC Championships. (photo by Stephen Menyhart)