By Taylor Konyk
Elm Staff Writer
Here’s what you can expect from your Washington College Shoremen during the 2012-2013 swim season.
Expect to be surprised. More than half of the men’s swim team consists of freshmen swimmers (nine freshmen to eight upperclassmen). Therefore, there is a degree of uncertainty of what the youth can bring to the table. However, sophomore Greg Lee has nothing but high hopes moving forward with this new-look team.
“I think what we’re most looking forward to is the future. We have some outstanding freshmen on the team that are already winning races and its good knowing that they’re only going to get better,” said Lee.
It appears that the future is now, considering the men are already 2-1 on the season. After defeating Salisbury University and St. Mary’s College 123-80 and 115-90, the Shoremen have already begun to assert their presence in the conference. Some of that success is attributed to the youth.
Against Salisbury, freshmen Lucas Morgan helped win the war on the shore by winning every race he entered, including the 800 meter freestyle and the 100 meter breaststroke—two radically different races. Similarly, freshman Charles Logan earned success for doing his part in 100 meter backstroke.
The praises of the upperclassmen should not go unnoticed—and they should not remain unsung. Captains Spencer van Cise and Robert Mix provide the team the powerful and necessary intangible of leadership. They are the—never cut corners—swim for the man next to you—type of role models. They are the perfect men to lead a bottom heavy swim club that will most assuredly experience growing pains.
So, expect growing pains. The youngsters are young, and the season is long. Fresheman Eric Burcin already sustained an injury in his first collegiate race against the Gettysburg Bullets.
Coach Kim Lessard might set the line ups, but team attitude in the face of adversity is often molded by the attitude of the veterans.
As the season moves forward and adversity relentlessly piles up, it will be up to the team leaders to keep the men focused.
Last season, the Shoremen finished sixth in a conference of seven teams at the Centennial Conference Championships. This season expect more.
“I think with the group we have, we can compete with teams like Ursinus and Swarthmore… I think we can break top tier,” said Lee, who earned a silver and bronze medal in the 100 meter nutterfly and 200 meter butterfly at the Conference Championships last year.
In a way, the ratio of freshmen to upperclassmen seems favorable. The eight seasoned veterans who have been through one or more seasons understand Coach Lessard’s coaching style and understand what it feels like to push their bodies to its limit—and only to fall short, because they lacked in team size not team heart—now find themselves on a team with nine new, untested but confident freshmen.
Expect big things from your Shoremen, because they expect big things from themselves.
They are young but determined. Always focused on the race at hand, they are a competitive team that can finally be competitive. Because they have such a large freshmen group, they are largely unknown. But with each and every race, the conference will grow more and more aware of what they can expect, and they can expect a challenge.