Yeofish Swim to Glory

For most Oberlin swimmers, the season is over. The Yeofish went out with a bang last week during the four-day conference championship meet held at C.T. Branin Natatorium in Canton.

The meet began on Feb. 9 with the diving events. Oberlin's divers scored high in the conference and earned the team valuable points, thanks in large part to the performances of senior Megan McKinnon, junior Aaron Hillyer and sophomore Scott Saylor.

Freestyle events were held on Thursday, and many Yeofish produced their best times. In the 500 freestyle, first-year Todd Wedge, who dropped under six minutes this season, turned in an impressive time of 5:34. Despite a ridiculous disqualification, which was later waived, junior Chris Dudley dropped seven seconds off his best time in the 500 free.

"I think I swam well. I had fun. The team swam well. The team had fun, and it was all thanks to our homemade psych-up video." Sophomore Joe Greaves, who came to Canton with a personal best of 5:40 in the 500 free, dropped to 5:17.

Oberlin's women sprinters all performed well. Sophomore Malika Jeter, first-year Laura Szabo-Kubitz, and first-year Debbie Sterrett all posted personal-best times. Sophomore Celeste Mercer, who had already assured herself a place at nationals, got another A-cut in the 100 backstroke on Friday. This was particularly impressive, given that she was unshaved and had not been tapering for the meet.

In addition to some personal-best times, three school records were broken. Mercer broke the varsity records in both the 100 and 200 freestyle, and the team of Mercer, junior co-captain Aurelie Cabou, sophomore Julia Handelman and first-year Rania Khan broke the varsity record in the 800 freestyle relay.

Saturday was the final day of the meet, and it proved to be an emotional closure for the season, as well as for the careers of Oberlin's seniors. During a special ceremony, the Yeofish honored their graduating teammates - co-captain Paul Pitcher, co-captain Shana Ageloff, Brian Jones, Nate Insel and McKinnon. The conference also paid tribute to Molly Hatcher, Kenyon's co-captain, who died when one of the team's buses went off the road on the way back from winter training.

For many, then, the season is done, and conference was an exciting and dramatic close. Assistant Coach Clara Stemwedel said, "For the most part, people swam faster than they had all season. Some didn't swim as fast as they would have liked, but everyone was solid. Some were fantastic and no one sank."

A few swimmers will continue to practice hopes of qualifying for nationals at the Case Western Reserve "Last Chance" meet. Stay tuned for the results of both men's and women's nationals, coming up in March, where junior John Limouze and Mercer will attempt to bring more glory to the swimming and diving team.