Alumni will get the chance to compete with the current Hillsdale College Chargers in their old pool in the Blue-White Alumni Scrimmage on Saturday at 11 a.m.
This is only the second year that the team has opened the intersquad meet to alumni, allowing them to compete against each other in 50-meter events between team events. Senior Taylor Steyer said that when they invited alumni to compete last year, it brought a “whole new element” to the event.
“It’s a way to see not just your four years here, but also further back,” Steyer said.
Head coach Kurt Kirner said he enjoys the homecoming scrimmage.
“It’s a fun opportunity for those recently graduated to see old teammates and for current swimmers to meet some of those who previously swam in the program,” he said.
The Chargers will split into two teams, blue and white, and race each other just as they would race outside teams. Each team member has to swim every event and will be scored by their total times.
“It’s fun in the sense that you don’t just get to swim your strokes, you have to swim other strokes,” Steyer said. “I don’t think there’s as much pressure as there is when I’m only swimming my best event.”
The event is also a way to asses the team in the competition environment before they begin the season.
“We want the team to really embrace the challenge of swimming every event,” assistant coach Zoe Tracey said. “We aren’t too concerned with their times at this point. The main goal is to create a meet environment and get the girls into a racing mindset.”
Junior Kathrine Heeres reiterated that idea, saying the inter-team competition is a good way to gauge where she is at the start of the season.
“It’s really helpful to not go into our first meet without having raced,” Heeres said.
Heeres added that the alumni involvement makes the meet feel more like a real competition than a practice day.
“It’s more fun than a normal practice. Homecoming week is so exciting anyway, and it plays into that,” Heeres said. “We’re a part of homecoming week.”