The Hillsdale College swim team opened their season two weeks ago, but not the way they had hoped to.
Hillsdale lost to Albion at home Saturday, Oct. 8, for the season kick-off. Albion defeated Hillsdale 158-133.
“We gave quality efforts but weren’t prepared to race for a number of reasons,” head coach Kurt Kirner said.
Despite their overall loss, Hillsdale swimmers made personal victories. The Chargers took the best times in seven of the day’s events.
Freshman Catherine Voisin swam the 500-yard butterfly and took first place. With best times in both the 50 and 200-yard breaststroke, sophomore Anika Ellingson performed well. In the 500-yard freestyle and also the 200-yard butterfly, sophomore Grace Houghton placed first. The best time in the 50-yard freestyle went to sophomore Suzanne DeTar. Freshman Danielle LeBleu had a solid day, taking first in both the 200 and 1000-yard freestyle.
Senior co-captain Kenzi Dickhudt, Kirner, and Houghton each mentioned the success of freshman Danielle LeBleu, who kick-started her college swim career at this meet — taking first in two of the events.
“Danielle rocked the 1000 and the 200 freestyle with very little rest in between,” Houghton said.
Looking forward to the next meets, Kirner remarked that though team effort is good, the races need more preparation.
“Injury, illness and some training hardships prevented us from making it a better meet,” said Kirner. “I also need to take the blame on assembling relays that were not as competitive as they needed to be.”
Houghton agreed relays were the toughest part of the day.
“Coach said that relays aside, we would have won the meet,” she said.
Kirner added that from this point out, it will be a joined effort to improve.
“As far as goals go for upcoming meets, we just need better coaching and better race preparation,” he said.
Despite the loss, the team remains positive. With new goals in mind, the swimmers said they are simply looking forward to the journey ahead.
“Coach always tells us to focus on giving our best and to let the clock worry about itself. As a team, we focus on swimming our best and then hope the times and points match our effort,” Dickhudt said. “This time, the points didn’t add up for a win, but I am always proud of everyone for swimming challenging races with effort and courage.”
