Swimming Pretty

While many braved freezing cold and unrelenting snow in Oberlin last month, members of the swimming and diving team spent the first week and a half of Winter Term in sunny Florida. It wasn't all fun and games for the Yeofish, but a serious training trip as well. Spending an average of four hours a day in a top quality, Olympic-size pool, the swimmers and divers came back to frigid Ohio in great shape and with new drive and determination. Once back in Oberlin, the team kept up its hectic pace with two practices a day and three meets in January.

The first of these meets was a tri-school meet with Case Western Reserve and Wooster held at Wooster on Jan. 15. Despite 10 days of focused training, the overwhelming practice schedule made for a tired Oberlin team. "We all worked hard in Florida, which will help in the long run, but it also meant we were really tired for our meet against John Carroll," said senior co-captain Shana Ageloff.

Neither the men's nor the women's teams were able to notch a victoy over either opponent, but there were several standout performances. Sophomore Scott Sailor won the one meter diving competition. First-year Todd Wedge had a personal best time, breaking six minutes in the 500 freestyle, and first-year Kristina Wolff also had a personal best in the 1000 freestyle.

On Jan. 21 and 22, the team had the daunting task of competing in back to back meets against John Carroll and conference powerhouse (and 22-time national champion) Kenyon. The difficulty of the line-up was compounded by the fact that the swimmers were beginning their taper [ed. note- lessen the intensity of practices to save strength] in anticipation of the North Coast Athletic Conference Championships to be held Feb. 9-12. While John Carroll handed Oberlin another loss, the challenges faced helped Oberlin to gear up for their final meet as well as the all-important Conference meet.

The Yeofish swam better against Kenyon and Case Western in their last home meet of the season on Jan. 22. An emotional meet for the seniors, and another chance to face the top swimmers in the conference, this last meet was a positive experience for the team.

"My last home meet was an adrenaline rush. After all I've gone through with Oberlin swimming it was gratifying to finish on a positive note," said senior Paul Pitcher. Hopefully this coming weekend will provide more positive outcomes for Oberlin swimmers and divers when they travel to Canton to finish their season at the NCAC Championships. After all the team bonding and shared stress of the Winter Term experience, these hard working athletes will give everything they have this weekend and plan to do some serious partying when its all over.