Yeofish prepare for new season and the Big Red

The Oberlin swimming and diving teams have taken their first strokes in the 1999-2000 season. After ending last season on a positive note, the teams are looking forward to meeting new challenges and setting new records. The biggest of these challenges so far has been overcoming the loss of 10 talented upperclassmen swimmers. Led this season by inspirational sophomore Celestine Mercer, a qualifier for Nationals, and a cast of powerful juniors and seniors, the women's team returns with the core of a team that set 10 new varsity records last year. The men's team is led by four talented seniors and All American powerhouse John Limouze, who took third last year at the National Competition in the 200 fly. This year, both teams are looking forward to tough competition and trying out their new deck-side cheers.

The teams began practicing early in the semester in order to prepare for their first meet versus Denison on Nov. 6. The Big Red of Denison boasts two of the top teams in the Conference along with the men's three-time Olympic Trial qualifier Aaron Cole. Oberlin was no match for the power of Big Red, and both teams floundered in a red wake. However, the overall experience was positive and showed the Yeofish exactly how hard they will have to work to realize their potential this season. "We showed a lot of heart but maybe it just weighed us down in the pool," said senior swimmer Nate Insel.

Last week, Oberlin faced stiff competition at home with two meets in four days. On Wednesday, the Yeomen put together their best performance of the year. The men defeated Baldwin Wallace by a score of 134 to 90. The winning tone of the meet was set early on with a dominating victory by the 400 medley relay team made up of senior Sean Davis, senior co-captain Paul Pitcher, junior co-captain Limouze and senior Brian Jones. Two of the most exciting races of the evening were the 50 and 100 yard freestyles in which Jones smoked his competitors with times of 22.95 and 50.66 seconds. The younger Yeomen were also well represented by the impressive times of freshman Nate Fey, who took second place in the 50 and third in the 100 freestyle. But the ironman award of the meet went to junior Chris Dudley for winning the 1000 yard freestyle, immediately returning to the blocks to take third in the 200 freestyle and completing the triple play with a win in the 500 freestyle.

The Yeowomen were perhaps even more deserving of high praise for their efforts against Baldwin Wallace. Winning with a score of 148 to 95, the Yeowomen took home the gold in nine of the 13 events with especially impressive performances by Mercer and junior co-captain Aurelie Cabou. Mercer swept her three events, the 50, 100, and 200 yard freestyles, and Cabou anchored the victorious 400 medley relay and took second in both the 50 and 100 yard freesyles. Cabou, who sported a neon green suit, blinded her competition with season-best times of 26.71 seconds in the 50 and 57.97 in the 100. Assistant Coach Clara Stemwedel praised the Yeowomen for their efforts. "The women's team rocked with the consistent swimming of experienced upperclassmen," she said.

On Saturday, the Battling Bishops of Ohio Wesleyan descended on Carr pool to challenge Oberlin Swimming and Diving. Though both the men and women came up short in the team competition, there were several outstanding individual performances. Mercer again wowed her teammates by shattering her own varsity record in the 200 freestyle with a time of 159.78 seconds. Senior Amy Marquardt also had a solid meet as she neared the varsity record with her win in the 200 fly.

Tomorrow, the swimmers will travel to Wittenberg for another tough meet, their last duel meet until January. But keep an eye on the Yeofish as they send their top swimmers to Miami Ohio in two weeks to attempt to qualify for National Competition.