The last lift of the swim team’s annual winter training in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, left the women dripping with sweat and shaking. But when they emerged from the gym, dreading their iminent dive into the 5,000 yard practice that would end their 10-day conditioning, their spirits skyrocketed. Drooping in the skies over the outdoor pool were thunderous, gray clouds studded by flashes of lightning.
In that moment, head coach Kurt Kirner struck a bargain with his swimmers: he had to call off practice because of the storm, but he’d also treat the swimmers to ice cream if they promised to give him the prerogative of slotting them for the 500 meter freestyle or the 1000 meter freestyle — two longhaul races — without any notice for the remaining meets of the season.
It was a deal. An evening out at Razzleberry’s Ice Cream ended the draining trip with a hit of sweetness, although the team’s sugar high was probably not what earned them a double win against DePauw University and Olivet College on Saturday, Jan. 13 and win-lose split against Ashland University and Saginaw Valley State University on Saturday, Jan. 20.
The swimmers have entered the most physically challenging portion of their season, coming off of winter training and pushing themselves before they rest up for the G-MAC championships in February.
“At this point the only thing motivating is yourself,” captain junior Anika Ellingson said. “This part of the season is the biggest mental challenge, in my opinion. You’re so beat down and you see everyone else being so beat down, it’s really hard to build off each other when you’re all exhausted. We rely on a lot of intrinsic motivation.”
The Chargers racked up win after win at the Jan. 13 meet in their very own pool. Freshman Katherine Heeres touched out each of her competitors in every one of her events — a feat that presumably earned her G-MAC Swimmer of the Week. She started the meet with a winning 1:59.02 in the 200 freestyle, championed the 100 backstroke in just 1:01.57, and dominated the 100 IM at 1:02.89.
Heeres said the swimmers entered the meet with confidence they could beat at least DePauw University, whom they faced at the three-day Phoenix Fall Classic meet held Chicago back in November. Then, DePauw beat them by only 11 points.
“We were pretty confident that we’d beat them, but it was definitely a goal,” Heeres said. “We were really happy about that.”
Heeres also jumped in for the 400 freestyle relay with freshman Mary Vita, sophomore Danielle LeBleu, and junior Tiffany Farris, which finished second in 3:50.76. The 200 medley relay also took second at 1:52.41 with Farris, junior Anika Ellingson, freshman Emma Rao, and Vita.
The chargers dominated three events: the 50 breaststroke, the 100 breaststroke, and the 1000 freestyle. In the 100 freestyle, chargers took first, second, and third. Vita spearheaded the three with her winning time of 56.78. LeBleu came in a close second at 57.20 with Farris just behind her at 57.74. Ellingson won the 50 breastroke in 30.61 before she took first in the 100 at 1:07.60. Sophomore Victoria Addis followed her lead with close seconds in both events at 31.90 in the 50 and 1:10.88 in the 100. Freshman Hannah Wilkens finished the 1000 in 11:11.76, taking first place, while sophomore Catherine Voisin finished second in 11:34.32.
Voisin also placed second in the 50 butterfly at 28.20 with Bickerstaff in third at 28.46. Junior Grace Houghton beat out other racers in the 100 butterfly with her first-place time of 1:03.04. She also took second in the 500 freestyle at 5:31.97.
Still, the Chargers continued place throughout the meet. Farris, sophomore Bailey Bickerstaff, and sophomore Allie Matti lined up for the 50 backstroke in second, third, and fourth place at 29.77, 30.10, and 30.62, respectively. Matti also placed second in the 100 backstroke with 1:04.86. Rao and sophomore Taylor Steyer snagged second and third in the 50 freestyle at 25.83 for Rao and 27.36 for Steyer.
The team’s tri-meet against Saginaw and Ashland ended with a win of 153-122 against Ashland and loss of 214-80 to Saginaw.
Just as she did on Jan. 13, Ellingson won the 100 breastroke two seconds faster than the week before with her first-place time of 1:05.91.
“I was really excited about winning the breaststroke just because the girl from Saginaw, Lydia Mattar, was one of my biggest competitors last year in the GLIAC conference,” Ellingson said. “I wanted to see how I was shaping up against her because she had out touched me in both the 100 breaststroke and beat me senseless in the 200 breaststroke last year.”
If Ellingson proceeds to nationals like she did last year, she may see Mattar across the lane lines yet again.
Addis finished fourth in the 100 breaststroke in 1:08.16 and placed second in the 200 breastroke at 2:35.48.
Heeres had a second-place win in the 100 backstroke at 1:01.91 before she finished fourth in the 100 freestyle at 55.75. She also swam the 1000 freestyle for the first time this season and pulled off a third-place finish in 11:01.18.
“Katherine actually showed a lot of guts swimming an off event, however we needed her to swim that event with all the injuries and illnesses we have been faced with over the last week,” Kirner said. “Katherine was actually a very decent distance swimmer coming out of high school. Her club program prepared her well for a number of events making her probably our most versatile swimmer.”
Farris and Bickerstaff took third and fourth place in the 100 backstroke, touching in at 1:05.33 and 1:05.80. The 200 backstroke saw another third- and fourth-place win with Matti and Bickerstaff coming in at 2:18.60 and 2:19.69. Wilkens and Vite placed second and third in the 200 freestyle at 2:02.09 and 2:02.27, and Wilkens also placed third in the 400 IM at 4:51.65. Ellingson was just behind her at 4:54.01, swimming the event for the first time in her life.
Grace Houghton swam the 200 butterfly again, placing second at 2:12.85 before taking third in the 500, in 5:28.20.
Senior Peyton Bowen, Ellingson, Rao, and Vita finished third in the 200 medley relay in 1:53.28. Heeres, Addis, Farris, and Rao also placed third in the 200 freestyle relay in 1:42.49.
The Chargers will swim two meets this weekend against Indiana Wesleyan, Ohio Northern, and Case Western Reserve.
“It will be a show of endurance since they’re back to back,” Ellingson said. “We just have to see how much gas is in the tank at this point.”
