Dominic Rapposelli
Sports Editor
WC swimming is coming off a loss in a dual meet against the Gettysburg Bullets. The women’s squad for the Bullets is ranked 19 in the nation, while the men’s team was ranked 22. The Shorewomen fell 205-50 while the Shoremen lost 174-87. The Shorewomen are 3-8 on the season, while the Shoremen are 5-6.
The Shorewomen had a singular first place winner; however, there were other strong performances in the meet.
Junior Kylee Smith continued her impressive season, snagging the only win for the Shorewomen. She took the 200 yard freestyle in 1:59.72.
Senior Emma Schultz earned a third place finish in the 50 yard freestyle with a 26.37 finish. Her teammate, sophomore Lauren Paules, also finished third in the 200 individual medley in 2:25.67.
“Our goals for the rest of the season are to stay confident in our training and to remain in a positive and competitive mindset for conferences,” Paules said. “We all know we have a job to do at the end of the season, so we all have a shared goal of keeping the intensity up in practices to make us as prepared as possible for our conference meet.”
The strong performances by the Shorewomen give them positive momentum going into their final regular season meet and conferences soon after.
“We are keeping our momentum up by supporting one another in and out of the pool and doing what we can to stay both physically and mentally strong,” Paules said.
The Shorewomen have one more dual meet to go in the regular season, with a road contest at Bryn Mawr on Feb. 3, at 1 p.m.
The Shoremen were able to boast a pair of first place finishers, along with some second place finishers, as well.
Junior Justin Fitzpatrick took one of the Shoremen’s two top finishes in the meet with the 100 yard butterfly. Fitzpatrick’s final time was 52:00 as he also added GooseNation TV Swimmer of the meet and Shoremen of the week.
The other first place Shoremen was junior Chase Henson, who won the 100 yard breaststroke with a time of 59.06. Henson also added second place in the 100 yard freestyle (43.19).
Juniors William Schmidt and Zach Affeldt each left with a pair of second place finishes. Shmidt took second in the 200 yard freestyle, (1:47:82) as well as the 200 yard backstroke (1:59.94). Affeldt’s second place times were in the 200 yard breaststroke (2:11.43) and the 200 yard individual medley (2:02.92).
After the final duel meet of the season, it is off to conferences for the Shormen. Their preparation and work through the season should prove useful as the season comes to a close.
“I’m feeling great after my last dual meet in preparation for Conferences. We’ve been training hard and it’s been tough work but soon all of that will pay off and the team is excited to see how we perform,” Freshman James Hackett said.
Freshman Nathan Rawa additionally added a second place slot in the 100 yard backstroke (52.96). Rawa, who has earned an awarded rookie season, including Centennial Conference Swimmer of the Week, has continued to improve since diving into his first race.
“I was very excited to get going on this team knowing I’d be able to make an immediate impact,” Rawa said. “Looking ahead to conferences, I’m looking forward to the opportunity of getting to race in front of my teammates one more time, but at an even higher level. While duel meets are fun and all, this is the big one.”
The Shoremen are off until the Centennial Conference championship, which starts on Feb. 22 and lasts until Feb. 25. This year, conferences will be held at Gettysburg. The mindset does not change for the Shoremen with one meet to go.
“Personally, the preparation is the same. In the end, this is just simply another swim meet,” Rawa said. “One thing I have learned over the years is that this time of the season is about trusting yourself and the work you have put in.”
Photo Courtesy of WC Athletics
Photo Caption: WC’s Kylee Smith took the 200 yard freestyle against Gettysburg