The first two meets of the swim season saw a new pool record, tough competition, and senior celebrations.

The Chargers swam at home for the first and last time this season on Oct. 8 and grabbed a win to start the year off right. They hosted Indiana Wesleyan University and Davenport University who they beat 123-95 and 125-111 respectively. Both competitors put up a few divers each, but even the points they earned weren’t enough to take down the Chargers.

“I think the team set a great benchmark at the first meet for the rest of the season because we started with a high energy, positive environment in our home pool with our friends and families watching,” senior Sydney Slepian said. “ It had us energized and uplifted on deck and ready to push through the next few meets.”

They opened the meet with a 1-2 finish in the 200 yard medley relay. The A team – comprised of junior Caroline Holmes, sophomores Emma Dickhudt and Megan Clifford, and senior Marie Taylor – took the top spot with a time of 1:50.33. The B team – Slepian, sophomore Joanna Burnham, senior Anika Fassett, and freshman Julianna Weir – finished just a second after their teammates in 1:51.62.

Sophomore Elise Mason, who was named G-MAC swimmer of the year and competed in the NCAA Division II championships in the spring, took third place in the 1000 yard freestyle with a time of 11:01.60. Senior Sarah Clark came fifth with an 11:22.16.

The 200 yard freestyle and the 50 yard freestyle saw more 1-2 finishes for the Chargers – in the 200, Clifford came first with a 1:58.18 and Holmes came second with a 1:59.82. In the 50, Weir led the pool with a 25.16, just out-touching sophomore Lilly Golladay who swam a 25.60.

The headline race at the home meet was Clifford’s 100 yard butterfly. She out-touched the second place finisher by almost two seconds – the widest margin in that race – and swam a 58.29, breaking the pool record set in 2004 – 18 years ago.

Taylor came first in the 100 yard freestyle – her signature event – with a time of 54.86. Golladay came seventh with a 56.97 and junior Nickaylah Sampson, who walked on to the team this year after not competing since high school, came tenth with a 1:03.00.

In the 100 yard backstroke, captains Holmes and Slepian placed third and fifth with times of 1:00.58 and 1:02.32 respectively.

Dickhudt came first in the 100 yard breaststroke with a 1:09.60 and Burnham finished second just hundreths of a second behind her (1:09.90).

To close out the only home meet of the season, Taylor, Slepian, Golladay, and Weir topped the 200 yard freestyle relay with a time of 1:40.28. Weir’s split time was a 24.63 – half a second faster than her individual 50 free earlier in the day. Golladay’s split was also faster than her individual swim – in the relay she swam a 24.93, more than half a second faster than earlier.

The team celebrated its seniors at the meet, too, since it was the last time racing at home for the eight women. Holmes organized the celebration as the junior captain.

“The class of 2023 is amazing. They are unique in that their class has stayed together throughout their four years here (ie. no one has left the team), so it was really important to celebrate them on their Senior Day,” Holmes said. “Their class is very diverse in both event lineups and personalities, and they bring a special energy and sense of leadership to the team that is simply unparalleled. They each have grown up so much during their time here, and I’m so proud of them all.”

Slepian said she enjoyed her last home meet experience.

“It was nostalgic and a bit surreal to race at Hillsdale for the last time,” she said. “I remember celebrating the previous senior meets with our alums on the team, and it was hard to believe I was in their shoes. I will forever cherish being on this team, as it has brought my closest friends and fondest memories to me, and this uplifting environment revitalized my love for the sport after high school.”

Tunney reflected on what she’s gotten out of the team.

“Being a charger has given me the greatest gift of lifelong friends, and has also made me appreciate living in the moment, soaking up the little memories that makes all the hard work we do worth it,” Tunney said. 

The following week, the Chargers headed to Grand Rapids to face off against Calvin University and Grand Valley State University. Neither teams compete against Hillsdale in the GMAC and provided tougher competition than typical Charger competitors. They lost to Grand Valley 191-45 and Calvin 131-105.5, but didn’t lose their morale.

“I was so proud of what we were able to do in the water this past weekend,” Tunney said. “Every race I watched I knew that our girls were not giving up and fought till the last yard.”

Holmes said she agreed.

“I think it’s good to sometimes ‘swim up’ and meet teams who are nationally ranked to provide additional challenge and give our team something to chase,” Holmes said. “We were in the middle of a pretty intense training block both in and out of the pool at the time of that meet, so it was a significant physical challenge to get up on the blocks and push through the pain.”

Many individuals improved upon their times from the previous meet. In the 1000 yard freestyle, Mason came third and swam a 10:59.64, about two seconds faster than a week before. In the 100 yard butterfly, Clifford went a little faster than her record breaking time a week earlier and finished fourth with a 58.26.

Taylor swam the 100 yard freestyle in 54.11, finishing fourth. Holmes tied for fifth in the 100 yard backstroke with a 1:01.27. Mason swam the 500 yard freestyle in 5:23.55, faster than the week prior, and placed fourth.

The Chargers’ third place 200 yard freestyle relay beat their own time from the week before (1:39.62).

The swimmers  get a weekend off this week, but on October 28 they travel to Albion College for a Friday evening meet.