In the fall, Charger swim had six wins at dual- and tri-meets, including one clean sweep and many excellent performances at larger meets. Multiple athletes set new records and a few earned NCAA Division II qualifying times.
The team boasted seven G‑MAC Swimmer of the Week awards, many of them won by the same star swimmers in consecutive weeks. Freshman Elise Mason won the award once and juniors Marie Taylor, Leah Tunney, and freshman Megan Clifford won it twice.
This spring, the team is gearing up for their conference meet in February. They will race three more times in January before ending the season at G‑MACs from Feb. 16 – 19. A few swimmers will go on to compete at the NCAA Division II Championship which runs March 9 – 12, including junior Marie Taylor and freshman Elise Mason.
“This year is a little bit different going into conferences than it was my freshman year because we’re going in off a training trip and with two classes who don’t have any experience with the normal schedule of training and G‑MACs,” junior Sydney Slepian. “We’re having a lot of fun still, we’re doing a lot of training, but it’s just been a new experience for basically half the team.”
The team traveled to Florida for a week of intensive training and team bonding at the end of December.
“I think our team is looking really strong,” Sophomore Caroline Holmes said. “I am looking forward to our next meet and of course, conference in about a month. Personally, I’m hoping to finish the season strong and hit my race paces in practice as we prepare for our championship season.”
The next few weeks of preparation will be important for the Chargers.
“I think succeeding in the meets before conference and putting our best foot forward will be important,” Junior Sydney Slepian said. “Going out and trying our best will really help us get into a good mentality and be more confident about our races at conference.”
The Chargers will race Saginaw Valley and Ashland at home on Saturday Jan. 15.
